A Perfect Storm
by sstarstruck
Summary: Driven to get revenge on the Dark Lord, Lena Yavari enters her sixth year at Hogwarts with a Dark Mark hidden beneath her sleeves. Lena finally gets the answer she's been waiting for: Is Draco Malfoy alive? [A Sequel to You and Me Both]
1. Disposition for Evil

You and Me Both Synopsis

* * *

With the help of her talents in the Dark Arts and her ability to hide her mind from the Dark Lord, Lena Yavari has survived three tasks:

The first was simple, a matter of resisting temptation; by acting as a delivery girl, and not opening a briefcase spelled with dark magic.

Lena meets a young Tom Riddle, and once she invites him into her life, he is impossible to get out...

The second task had a heart retching reality: Lena killed her boyfriend, Blaise Zabini with the Killing Curse-because of the mischievous actions of Draco Malfoy, who wanted to win Lena over and finally get revenge on the cheating Zabini. But as the life drained from Blaise's eyes, a hero swooped in, his actions unbeknownst to Lena, Draco Malfoy.

Lena trained Draco, and helped him achieve his first kill to ready himself for his own initiation. Cold shoulders and fiery kisses lead to Draco taking Lena's virginity, and she hoped that this will allow their relationship to finally be steady and somewhat normal.

But as Lena arrives at her third task, she realizes she must choose between everything she has worked for- loyalty to the Dark Lord, and Draco- the love of her life.

With her trust in the Dark Lord, she kills Draco, and relives the same horror as when she killed Blaise, watching Draco remain himself, and not bubble back from the polyjuice potion.

Receiving her Dark Mark for her actions, Lena is revived with new motivation: to find out whether or not she killed Draco, and to get revenge on the Dark Lord.

* * *

[Chapter One] Disposition for Evil

Searing lashes whipped Lena Yavari's heart, merciless serration, sawing through the center of her heart. Each jagged movement flashed images into the girl's mind. A blazing flash of emerald light, and Blaise Zabini's bright brown eyes, with glints of red, dimming into darkness. The milliseconds of horror dragged on as his body did not bubble back into it's primary form. Whatever Stygian demons that possessed her, drew her to lower her wand slowly, distressingly drawn out as green light shot from her wand into her heart.

A tiny gasp escaped as the line around her heart completed, though her agony was tenfold worse than anything she had ever experienced. An unseen essence escaped with her gasp, and Lena propelled the essence forth into the fiery cauldron; as it entered, the fire changed a brilliant conglomeration of color for just a moment and then a tornado of emerald light swept in, the same emerald light that had escaped her wand with the Killing curse. Finally swirling down in a whirlwind of smoke, as though there were a drain at the bottom of the cauldron, until the tornado diminished into shadow with one last flicker of the chromatic flames.

Lena reached forward into the large, umbrageous cauldron, her fingers touched the heavy silver item at the bottom, and she jerked away immediately.

It was frigidly cold, but that was not what made the girl jump away.

The vacuous eyes of Blaise Zabini stared back at her once more, the last glimmer of life escaping...so vividly...as though she were there, once again.

Lena Yavari picked up the cold metal, and hid it where nobody would find it, and then hid the memory deeply, where the Dark Lord would never look.

And as she betrayed him, she realized that she had been given an unspoken fourth task...

To remain loyal.


	2. Guilty Conscience

[Chapter Two] Guilty Conscience

"Lena, dear, your denial of all this is simply from your guilt," Bellatrix Lestrange's monotone echoed in the tiny room of the drafty and disinigrating house in Godric's Hollow- almost on the outskirts of the village. A heap of abating embers kept the room hardly any warmer than the persistant rain outside. "You must address this before you drive yourself into delirium."

Lena ignored her distant relative. She didn't want to hear it. She had hoped that somebody, anybody, would have the same hope as she did. But even Narcissa had made reality clear: Lena was to forget about Draco Malfoy.

The girl strolled to the mantle of the fireplace, her fingers skimming against the heated wood of the mantel, a silver ring of entwining snakes with emerald eyes stared back at her. Her brow furrowed in thought, and as usual, when she let the wall in her mind down, even for a second, a flood of built up emotions and images rushed in. Lena pushed them back and slammed the wall up once more, recovering her composure, and turning back to Bellatrix. The woman's iniquitous gaze scanned her carefully; everything Lena said would be reported back to the Dark Lord.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lena spoke, "I suppose you are right, Lestrange."

Bellatrix nodded, but her eyes still pierced Lena's with discern.

Quickly turning back to the fireplace, Lena hid the rising heat in her face, praying that Bellatrix had not seen. The girl quickly scolded herself; hadn't a month hiatus been enough to gain control of her emotions?

A hand rested on her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Lena. The Dark Lord always has a purpose: Do not doubt that."

"Of course, I do not doubt him." Her voice was changing rapidly to a growl, and she struggled to pull herself back, "I cannot live with myself after what I've done."

It was the truth. _Why am I telling her this, anyway?_

Bellatrix Lestrange would be the last person to understand. Devoted since a young woman to the Dark Lord, she never faltered, never failed, never had love gotten in the way. Though Lena had never felt close to the woman, she was rapidly finding everyone she could trust dying by her own hands, or ostracizing her. At least Bellatrix didn't shun her for crying, criticize her for sleeping in, or not leaving the house. The woman removed her hand from Lena's shoulder as Lena turned to face her.

"I know you came in hopes that I would have some confidential information." Bellatrix paused, searching Lena's eyes for something, her own eyes entirely blank. "I do not."

Lena nodded, feeling that pesky lump in her throat swell up once more, heading toward the front door.

"Do not let their sacrifices go on in vain, crying about it won't change what happened. What you did."


	3. Cut

[Chapter Three] Cut

Twilight dimmed with aching slowness. Lena stared blankly off her balcony, grasping the stone railing with unintentional puissance. Forcing herself to push the wall in her mind down, she became quickly overwhelmed with suppressed emotions. It took her nearly a minute to recover herself, pushing the wall back up, shoving all the terrifying images behind.

 _If I were to meet with the Dark Lord tomorrow, I would have no control over my emotions. My thoughts._

And he would kill me for my defincency.

The girl let the wall drop, prohibiting herself from raising it once more. The visions fired incessantly at her, overpowering her control. Heaving in a thick breath, Lena gasped, clutching her chest and falling to her knees. She attempted to heave in another thick breath. Somehow, the wind had been knocked out of her, a knife was stabbing her in her windpipe: She couldn't breathe.

Panting desperately for precious life, Lena collapsed to her side. His face flashed against her eyes: Draco. The air flowed in, tears streamed out uncontrollably. Pulling her knees close to her chest, she cried out for him. Her voice rang out like shattered glass, coarse gravel against the bleak summer breeze.

The pain in her chest ached worse than the Dark Mark searing in her flesh for weeks after its imprint was spelled into her arm. The vacuous, hopeless pangs that ran through her were worse than the arctic chill from the Dark Lord's touch. The guilt more agonizing than anything she could depict, she merely wanted it to end. _So alone, so cold, though I don't want to die_.

Misery plagued Lena, she had blocked so much out for so long. Time did not exist in her perpetual torment, and when it finally ended, she was numb.

Her cheek rested on the cold stone, the moon taking over the sky, the tears finally stopped streaming out. She pushed the thought again repetitively, denying that it contained any truth. But the nagging in the back of her head insisted, pushing the thought back again, but she didn't submit to it, fighting against it once more.

Lena pushed her numb body from the stone, resting her back against the door frame. She pushed the wall back up. Not allowing herself to wallow in self-pity.

I can overcome this, I will not cry when I am in front of the Dark Lord.

After a few minutes, she let it down again, and let the thoughts stream in. She expected to become overwhelmed again.

Draco's silvery gray eyes met hers in the same nightmarish repetition. The life draining from them, as though they were painted watercolor, being washed away. A slow breath escaped through her clenched teeth, and as she blinked, a tear leaked out.

The abysmal thought was pestering again, nagging against her. She let it through, allowing the hopelessness to overcome her.

 _Draco is dead._


	4. Reckless Endangerment

[Chapter Four] Reckless Endangerment

Pushing her way through the obnoxious buffoons at the humble muggle bar, Lena cursed the man she was to meet. Of all the places he could have chosen to meet, he chose some rinky-dink bar in the middle of ghetto London; the cherry on top was that it was almost midnight on a Friday.

Stabbing her elbow into a particularly intoxicated man howling at a T.V., Lena tried to search over the tall heads, the sturdy shoulders for Black. She gave another vicious stab and plowed her way to him. Giving a small wave, he gestured her to the small circular table in the corner which he sat at.

Pushing through the musky smoke, and odorous sweat, she felt a slight chill from airflow as she reached him. Dropping into the booth, she greeted the man, "Regulus."

"Rosalena."

"Just Lena now. The Dark Lord has been searching for you."

Regulus dropped his eyes, scanning the room discreetly for anyone that looked suspicious. The girl saw a noticeable gulp and a quiver run through the man. A long silence passed between the two of them, Lena ordered the most expensive muggle wine, hoping that it would taste decent.

"Lena," He said suddenly as the waitress walked away. "You're the only person I can trust."

Nodding, and waiting for an explanation, the girl quickly reminisced about growing up with Regulus. He had been like a brother to her, different from Draco. But when she was fourteen, he never returned from a top-secret mission, and was never seen again. The Dark Lord had sworn he was a traitor, and that if anyone was to hear anything of Regulus A. Black, it was to be reported immediately back to him.

"You are the only person that is close enough to the Dark Lord and has control of your Occlemency-"

"Your apparent exploit to weigh this conversation on me has _now_ makes it so that I cannot see the Dark Lord until I find a way to cover this up," Lena snapped. "There's a meeting this weekend."

"Please, Lena-"  
"Absolutely not, Regulus." Lena's expression was very grim, she eyed the man's reaction carefully, her voice deadly calm. "He would kill me in a heartbeat. I can give you a few days, but I cannot _keep any secrets_ for you."

Regulus' eyes dropped to the grimy table for just a second. He nodded to Lena after his moment of thought, then instantly stood and left the bar.

When Lena's glass of wine arrived, she called for the check and took a small sip, glancing up at the T.V. _What secrets could Regulus be keeping? He has been missing for two years, since the Dark Lord made his reappearance. What was so horrible that the Dark Lord could not forgive him? What had he done?_

Though she had only seen it once, with Lucius, the Dark Lord would forgive if you explained with pure honesty. The girl raked her mind for a way to cover this. What place in her mind would the Dark Lord never look?

Every time his piercing gaze stabbed her, she could feel him prodding through her brain. She felt the familiar prodding often, even when she was hundred's of miles away from the Dark Lord. There was no place in her mind she could keep this, he did rigorous checks on all his Death Eater's, especially now. His growing paranoia caused him to call his Death Eater's to him multiple times a week. How could Regulus be so careless with her life and his own? Did he put so much trust in her? He knew the Dark Lord would stop at nothing to find him, just as with any of his other enemies.

Lena knew that it would be impossible to hide with so little time...

Unless she altered it, and confessed to the Dark Lord.

 _Damn it, Regulus._

The chill overcame her, and the shiver riveted through her bones; Lena gasped as the chill turned to fire, and she appearated to the called location.

 _No. Not yet, I'm not ready yet,_ A voice inside of her mind cooed. She pushed the thought aside, into her plans after Hogwarts, plans that would never happen, because she was hiding other precious thoughts there, an invented thought and made a prayer that the Dark Lord would not check there. _I cannot let Regulus die too,_ she whispered to herself desperately as she was sucked from the muggle bar in a cloud of Stygian black smoke.


	5. Backbone

[Chapter Five] Backbone

Landing on her feet at the edge of the circle, Lena watched as the circle filled quickly, wisps of ominous smoke snapping onto the ground with ease and expertise. Everyone wore a mask, though she knew everyone, from their eyes, their familiar forms, or their hair that peaked through the edges of their hoods.

Eyes darted around. They were at a new clearing, it was never the same place when they were called anymore. This particular clearing was heavily shrouded by thick forest, looming clouds above. The trees were tall with thick trunks. Her eyes moved upward, these threes were larger than any she had seen in her life. The Dark Lord was on the move...

 _Where is this place?_ Lena questioned in her mind, feeling the probing begin.

There was no immediate answer, and Lena continued to look around; It was beautiful. Gangly trees with gigantic knots and other imperfections. Endless woods of russet bark spanned the area for what seemed like many miles around, over hills, and snow capped peaks in the distance. Lena knew she had never been to this place before.

The Dark Lord took his place in the circle, stepping forward slightly. Lena felt his eyes piercing hers through the eyes of her mask. Her entire mind was vulnerable to his slit red eyes, to his will. Though her knees felt weak, she forced herself to remain strong. A flash entered her mind, of the night that the Dark Lord raped her; Unsure if her own thoughts had roused it, or the pestering probing from the Dark Lord had dislodged it, Lena's eyes met his.

Lena was sure he was looking at everyone, but in the darkness, why did it feel as though he only looked upon her? He spoke, finally:

"Welcome, welcome," his voice hissed, with a renewed strength. "Many of you are wondering where we are at. Welcome to America."

A sparse whisper echoed through the circle for a few seconds.

"Fortunately, I have located something very important that we need for our next step." The Dark Lord waved his hand behind him, to an especially large tree. " _Sequoiadendron giganteum:_ It just so happens that this species of tree is one of the oldest in the world. It also happens to be one in the same with the tree's wood that made a very famous cabinet, now in Borgin and Burkes." His eyes darted around thirstily, searching for any smirk or reaction. Lena searched the faces with him, until her eyes landed on Lucius.

The Dark Lord continued after a moment, "Lucius, your son gave his life for our cause. Draco Malfoy was more than just an intelligent, clever young man." His eyes stopped on Lena. "Draco Malfoy is a heroic figure to us, and our plans. We cannot let this young man die in vein."

Biting the insides of her cheeks, Lena choked back a sob. _I'm so sorry, Draco._ Lucius showed no emotion, as always. The probing sensation began again as the Dark Lord spoke: Trying to distract Lena from covering her own thoughts, but in was no matter, thoughts of Draco were streaming freely now, thanks to the Dark Lord's comment, shrouding anything of Regulus.

"Just a day before his death, Draco Malfoy confessed something to me, you see." His eyes did not move from Lena's. "Having recently come to knowledge of several betrayals from a girl he loved, he asked me, most ardently, to give his life purpose. When I refused, letting the boy know that he was not yet ready to become a Death Eater, his defense had been that _a younger apprentice_ had already been initiated. Finally, he confessed something. That he had discovered a cabinet, much like the one at Borgin and Burkes: though...this one is at Hogwarts."

Lena wasn't watching the Dark Lord; she watched Lucius. Wouldn't his expression be the one to betray the Dark Lord's words? To show care or concern for his only child? But even as the several gasps erupted at the Dark Lord's reference to Hogwarts, Lucius' face remained still. Emotionless. Cold.

Her eyes flickered back to the Dark Lord. His gaze still lurked upon her.

"Apparently, our young Mr. Malfoy discovered Montague, another Slytherin student, in the U-bend of a toilet. Montague had only been able to recall being pushed into a cabinet on the seventh floor of Hogwarts by a pair of blood traitors, the Weasley's." The Dark Lord paused, looking around. As far as Lena knew, this was new information for everybody, a new plan. "This led Draco Malfoy to believe that the Vanishing Cabinet inside of Hogwarts is broken, but not beyond repair. So yes, let's not let young Mr. Malfoy's death go in vein." There was a long pause. "That is all."

Another thought slipped into her mind as he spoke, _Go see the wizard, ask for some backbone._ And she wondered what he had found in her mind.

Lena felt herself being pushed into a vacuum of black smoke, but not upon her own will, she saw several other Death Eaters in similar situations. Seconds later, she landed back in her own room in her manor.

Rage boiled to the surface, and a vase on her desk exploded. She rushed out of her room, cooing herself to calm down. But her breath was unsteady and visions flashed beneath her eyes.

 _Draco._

Running down the stairs, Lena arrived in the main entrance hall, but before she could make it outside, a lash of invisible magic escaped from her chest, whipping against the gigantic mirror that hung above the hallway arch with a earsplitting clash. Several cracks told her than the house-elves had come to check on the commotion, but Lena felt herself losing control. Biting the inside of her cheek, Lena was hardly able to control her escalating emotions inside of her. Fury at herself, for killing Draco; but unclouded and pure wrath surged through her, as she thought of the Dark Lord, mocking Draco's death.

Every drop of blood in her veins boiled in rage; every hair stood on end, and every bone erupted with her impending fury. The high-vaulted ceilings and walls quivered again, as another whip of magic escaped, shattering the skylights and other windows. Glass rained down upon her, but Lena didn't look at the damage, the visions of Draco still clouded her mind; she felt his lips on hers, and a tiny breath crawled out of her lips. All of the rage she had been bottling inside of her exploded. The lashes began to swirl around her in a hurricane of glass. Lena ignored the sounds of wood splintering, glass shattering, allowing the pulsating tornado to destroy her home, hoping it would take her with it.

As the reverberations finally dampened, the cyclone of magic dimmed, and finally ceased. And suddenly the last breath of anger that she had fueled abated, until she was left...alone, a shell with no turtle, devoid and stripped bare.


	6. Privileged Information

[Chapter Six] Privileged Information

HARRY POTTER: THE CHOSEN ONE?

 _Rumors continue to fly about the mysterious recent disturbance at the Ministry of Magic, during which He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was sighted once more. "We're not allowed to talk about it, don't ask me anything," said one agitated Obliviator, who re-fused to give his name as he left the Ministry last night. Nevertheless, highly placed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance centered on the fabled Hall of Prophecy_ -

SCRIMGEOUR SUCCEEDS FUDGE

 _Rufus Scrimgeour, previously Head of the Auror office in the Departmentof Magical Law Enforcement, has succeeded Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic. The appointment has largely been greeted with enthusiasm by the Wizarding community, though rumours of a rift between the new Minister and Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, surfaced within hours of Scrimgeour taking office. Scrimgeour's representatives admitted that he had met with Dumbledore at once upon taking possession of the top job, but refused to comment on the topics under discussion. Albus Dumbledore is known to (continued page 3, column 2)._

MINISTRY GUARANTEES STUDENTS' SAFETY

 _Newly appointed Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, spoke today of the tough new measures taken by his Ministry to ensure the safety of students returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this autumn. "For obvious reasons, the Ministry will not be going into detail about its stringent new security plans," said the Minister, although an insider confirmed that measures include defensive spells and charms, a complex array of counter-curses, and a small task force of Aurors dedicated solely to the protection of Hogwarts School._

YAVARI ENTERPRISES LOSING STOCK

 _Mr. Yavari, the CEO and owner of Yavari Enterprises refused to comment this week about the recent downfall of YE stock. However, it is rumored, as heard from Lucius Malfoy (Malfoy &Co) that YE isn't "keeping up with modern times"-_

Setting the paper down for a moment in anger, Lena inhaled deeply, returned to the other headlines.

Lena snickered suddenly, glancing at the other headlines. What rubbish. _Death Eater Attacks Target Muggles, Gringott's Raid Fails- Hexes Fly, Bridge Collapse Death Toll Rises._

Tossing the Daily Prophet aside, Lena pulled out Witch Weekly. She had bought it for one reason...her sworn enemy was on the cover. _Pansy Parkinson._ Quickly Lena thumbed through, until she found the page with Pansy's gigantic ugly face.

Mall Queen

Pansy Parkinson is a young and upcoming model; her father is Franz Parkinson (yes, one in the same owner of all Park Malls around Europe and recently Asia!). We managed to snag an interview with Pansy after our photo-shoot.

WW: For someone so young, do you think it will be difficult to manage school and your modeling career?

PP: Oh, definitely, but I believe when you're committed to something, you stick to it.

WW: Unfortunately for our male readers, we've heard a little rumor about you not being single...?

PP: (Pansy giggled when asked) I'm not really supposed to say anything...we're keeping it secret for right now.

The questioned dragged on and Lena flicked to the next page.

I think it's safe to assume that our mall queen, Miss Parkinson, is taken by someone commonly seen in the media. With her father being one of the top thousand richest men in Europe, it's not surprising the young socialite (and now model) has an affluent boyfriend.

Flight Yavari Down

Yes, the company we've been seeing in the media almost too much recently...Yavari Enterprises. With its stock diminishing, and much of it up for sale on the market, nobody is expecting the company to make it much longer.

Pansy Parkinson (Model) commented earlier this week, "I know Lena Yavari from school at Hogwarts, and if you get any impression from her about her family, it's that they're stuck-up.

The same Lena Yavari appeared in our editorial last month. She is rumored to have cheated on her boyfriend at the time, Draco Malfoy. Our anonymous source has told us that this _gold-digger_ and daughter heiress of big-time company Yavari Enterprises cheated and ended the relationship with Draco Malfoy, clearly after snagging a richer man.

Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy, is the sole heir to Malfoy&Co, though there has been no responses to our repeated attempts to get his comment.

Clearly, this billionaire has no desire to comment about Lena Yavari's cheating scandal.

Lena nearly growled allowed, tossing the magazine back into her bag, a necklace that she vowed never to take off hung hidden beneath her clothes, between her breasts.

The rain outside was dreary and never-ending. The past week it had not ceased even once. Lena grimly pulled her thoughts away from the distraction of weather, back to the Daily Prophet. Quickly thumbing to the article about the bridge collapse in London, Lena read about the apparent collapse of the Millennium Bridge.

The only thing Lena had heard about it, was that the Dark Lord had threatened to take the lives of many muggles if the Minister of Magic did not step down from his position. Honestly, this was Lena's first glance at a newspaper since the beginning of the summer. The lack of news of Draco will put a damper on any hopes of seeing his face in the newspaper.

"...continuing with the investigation into the cause of the Millennium Bridge..."

"Mind turning that up?" Lena asked the driver of the car. It was the first time she had been to muggle London since she had met Regulus. The driver obliged and turned up the radio.

"River traffic has been halted as police search for survivors. The surrounding areas remain closed. The Mayor has urged Londoners to remain calm, and assures that all missing persons will be located. This tragedy is believed to be the result of terrorist actions, though the Parliament's information will remain classified until sufficient evidence has surfaced and been investigated. This has been a local news update brought to you by KTLN, London."

Lena tossed the newspaper back into her messenger back as she felt the car coming to a stop. She grabbed several muggle bills and tossed them carelessly at the driver. He came around and opened her door to the elements, taking her trunk out of the back and setting it next to her on the wet sidewalk as wind and hard rain pattered against her face.

Her hair flowed limply over her shoulders, uncared for and greasy. The skinny jeans she wore had spots of unknown potion ingredients and other spills from mishaps in the past weak. She wore a nice jacket and heavy exhaust of perfume that was dimming with the pouring rain. Entering the same muggle bar, a warm breeze, scented of beer and musky peanuts, Lena found it mostly empty this afternoon. Regulus sat in the same back corner; Lena approached him quickly and took a seat.

"You look like hell, Yavari."

Grimacing at the man, she nodded at his similar appearance. "Good to see you again so soon, Regulus." It had been almost a month since their last meeting, though Lena had hoped never to see him again.

"I presume that you calling this meeting, and my heart still beating is a good sign?"

Lena smirked. "Apparently."

Hurriedly pushing a small black box across the table, Lena grasped it underneath his own hand, but he did not remove his fingers. Lena eyed him curiously.

"Guard it well, Yavari." The girl nodded. His fingers released and Lena pulled the box gingerly into her pocket. Regulus gathered his things, and his cloak around him, preparing for the rain outside. He stood with his back to the table when he looked down at her over his shoulder. "What made you change your mind?"

"Revenge."

As the man's cloak whipped around in the wind as he opened the door, he did not gaze back at her, and Lena felt herself swirling into the past—At the Malfoy Manor two weeks before, the last Death Eater meeting she had been called to, the last time her Dark Mark had burned and pulsated.

"I'm giving you the year off, Yavari."

The grim smirk on Lena's lips quivered into a frown for just a moment, and suddenly the girl's expression went blank. "You can't treat me like this," Lena paused, choosing her words carefully. Her voice betrayed her apparent dismay, despite her attempt to keep it hidden. "Like I'm some kind of mudblood," she spat sourly.

 _After everything he has put me through, how can he just discard me like I'm some kind of garbage?_ An angry scowl formed on her face at the thought.

"Lena..." The Dark Lord's cackling voice somehow managed to come out smoothly. "I'm not discarding you, I'm just giving you a break, a well deserved break, and, when you are needed for our cause, I will call upon you."

Her scowl remained unchanged and her anger was growing more apparent, as her eyebrows creased inward; her heartbeat sped up, and her nervous anxiety overwhelmed her breath.

"Give yourself time, to forgive yourself, to grieve, Lena..." He paused, "I've seen so many, just like you, throw themselves away. Witches and wizards with so much promise...I only ask for your patience. I only ask you trust me; and leave me with your sworn loyalty. And I promise you, I will take down our every threat. At this very moment, I am scheming against Harry Potter within his very mind."

The tiny black box crushed at the pressure from Lena's fingers as she rushed from the bar with her trunk. She found herself in an alley next to the bar, thumbing the box tenderly. Her resistance to her own curiosity faltered, and her fingers ripped the lid off the box.

Inside, a tiny silver locket lay nestled against a cotton bed. She felt the radiating heartbeat, and a shiver overcame her. Though her clothes were drenched from the non-stop rain at this point, she knew that that was not the chill's origin. _  
_Taking this secret of Regulus' would mean that if she did not take it to the grave, she would be in a grave as soon as it was exposed.

 _The Dark Lord can never know._


	7. The Truth Will Bury

[Chapter Seven] The Truth Will Bury

The daunting thought of an entire year without Draco Malfoy loomed over Lena Yavari's psyche. Painful splinters of thoughts echoed. _Draco's gone. Hasn't three months without a single word from him proven that?_ Gulping back a thought, she pulled her trunk behind her through King's Cross station, toward Platform 9 ¾. Though she would have preferred to floo directly to the station, her procrastination of shopping countered that easily.

Many of the books she needed were out of stock, and had to be mailed to Hogwarts. _How can I care about books and grades when the love of my life is dead?_

Wearing skinny jeans and a simple white tank top (both clean), and a pair of brown high heeled ankle boots, Lena strolled casually through the border, escaping the attention of the oblivious muggles. And suddenly she was in a rush of people. Familiar faces, scared new youngsters. Pushing roughly through all of them, her trunk taking out several family gatherings in the process.

As she stepped up onto the train step, a notorious snide voice whispered near ear. "A little vindictive, don't you think, Yavari?"

"Atoning for your prior sins, Parkinson? New mission to convert someone else?" Lena continued up the steps, peaking over her shoulder. Parkinson had grown her hair long over the summer. Unfortunately, she had found a proper light and mirror to do her makeup, and she looked, to Lena's dismay, _decent._

"Didn't you hear? My _Father_ opened four new malls this summer throughout England and Wales. Featuring a new model for their student-ware. You're so informed, though, I'm sure you've heard..." she said snidely.

Lena mused with exaggeration, "Must have passed it over, I'm sure. You know my family would be scrutinized by the Wizarding public if I was caught shopping in such a place-"

"Me, of course, I'm the new model. So, of course, if the _Wizarding Public_ is scrutinizing anybody, it's going to be me." Parkinson gazed over Lena quickly, "Such a gaudy outfit, maybe you're lucky there's no paparazzi today."

"Out of insults, already? Just keep praying your father doesn't get caught for his embezzlement of the company's money, might help more than atonment," Lena whispered menacingly.

Lena headed down the aisle, checking for an open compartment, knowing Parkinson stood with her unfailing gawk, just behind her, but of course, Parkinson couldn't resist just one more insult, "Hope your Daddy finds a way to keep _Yavari Enteprises_ out of the recent scandals. From what the Daily Prophets been saying, it's going bankrupt."

Lena found herself blushing, knowing that anybody on that train-car would have heard what Parkinson had said. And who could believe what the Daily Prophet was saying these days anyway? The humiliating fact was that it was true. And it was likely one of the few things that was true amongst that smut.

Finding a compartment that housed only Crabbe and Goyle, she entered, opening the door with a loud snap. Lena nodded at the two as they stood to get her trunk. They gazed at her oddly, as if they were surprised she wanted to sit with them. Nonetheless, as they began to lift the trunk, a deadly cold voice spoke at the entry, causing the two of them to set the trunk back down with a careless thud.

"Crabbe, Goyle."

Lena spun around. _It can't be._

Draco.

Her nimble moment of relief from her anxiety and concern was shrouded by Draco's obliviousness to her entirely. And it quickly shifted to a furious rage as she saw Parkinson's arm clinging onto his...And him not throwing her off of him as if she were the foul, loathsome parasite that she was.

As the four others went on with their normal conversation, Lena was stuck in her own reality. Draco was alive and well-

"Really, Drakie, I've missed you. I wish we would have gotten more than a few weeks with each other this summer."

Lena wasn't sure if this was real. Could there be such a vivid daydream?

She didn't know if she should hug him and kiss him everywhere, or strangle him with her bare hands. She had thought of him almost every waking moment of the summer, yet had never imagined how she would react if he was alive. Or how _he_ would react. She'd just assumed that...everything would stay the same.

"Pansy, you know I've been very busy." A grim severity twinged against Draco's expression and voice.

Suddenly, Draco noticed Lena's trunk, still on the ground by Crabbe and Goyle's feet. And he turned to look at her. Lena's face surged to an unnatural shade of sickly purple and green; She was going to throw up; She was going to kill him for making her grieve so long, without even one word to let her know that he was okay. And yet, _somehow,_ managed to tell Pansy. Lena took a few seconds to calm herself down, and forget about her rage, even just for a few minutes.

Draco Malfoy's grey eyes met Lena's, clearly, he hadn't seen her when he walked in. The rush of thoughts slowed time down, but only a moment later, not even a second, he looked away. It was like he had looked at somebody he didn't even know, a stranger.

He simply turned back to Crabbe and Goyle. "Well? Are you two going to get on with it?" He snapped, gesturing at the trunks now filling up the floor space as Daphne Greengrass entered the domain.

Speedily grabbing her own trunk from Crabbe and Goyle's prying fingers, Lena tried to head out the compartment without another word, Parkinson could never resist. "Don't worry, Lena, we won't tell anyone that your family's company is going out of business and you're about to live in a cereal box!"

 _Draco has been alive all summer. Instead of spending one second to assure me that he was okay, he decided to spend WEEKS with Parkinson, while I wallowed in my own self inflicted misery and rejection. Ostracized from my own family, my friends, my leader, and the followers. All of whom convinced me one thing. All summer. That Draco Malfoy was dead, and I was demented or some kind of lunatic for believing otherwise... And here he is, perfectly normal and healthy, and clearly with his own vengeance for me..._

 _Because I killed him. But he took something from me too, something that should have ensured good treatment, excellent even, as his girlfriend...my virginity._

Stopping in front of a compartment near the back of the train, already convinced that the rest were full as well, Lena opened the sliding door, noticing the curtain pulled down, heaving her trunk in behind her. Once in the compartment, she found that it was empty. Lena exhaled quickly and threw her trunk haphazardly on the ground, too weak to lift it to the above compartment, slumping into the uncomfortable bench seats.

Admittedly, she'd never felt this betrayed. Draco had been her best friend. Her secret keeper. How could he look at her with such contempt? As if she meant nothing to him now? Certainly, he would take her secrets to the grave, right?

A sparkle in her peripheral caught her attention, and Lena turned to the corner of the compartment, on the opposite side she was sitting. Standing up, she reached forward slowly, knowing the familiar glisten of an invisibility cloak. Her fingers touched the diaphanous fabric and as she pulled a girl was revealed, half naked and her face and body made-up with clown make-up.

Her mind voiced the counter-curse, and the girl was released, Lena muttered a few more counter-curses and the girl was scrambling into her robes, her face and body now clean from the makeup. The girl glanced over with a look of thanks, her long curly brown hair falling behind her shoulder.

"Enemies already?" Lena mused, taking her seat once more, levitating her trunk up to the rack next to the other girl's.

"You would know," the girl retorted quickly, looking into Lena's eyes. "I, uh, overheard the conversation with Pansy Parkinson. Well...um...everyone did."

Lena waved her off gently, scanning her eyes for any prevarications. "Well, since you seem to know my story, why don't you tell me yours?"

"Just my sister, Daphne. A little upset I borrowed her outfit today. She practically ripped it off me, and allowed most of the guys from the Slytherin and Ravenclaw Quiddich teams to laugh at me and take pictures." The girl paused. "I'm Astoria, by the way." Her dark brown eyes seeped into an abyss, showing no emotion while recalling the event.

Lena nodded, taking the girl's outstretched hand. "Lena."

"Now that we're introduced, and clearly by destiny itself, how are you with planning supreme revenge?"

Lena smirked at Astoria. "What do you have in mind?"

* * *

A knock at the compartment door interrupted us, and without waiting for a response, the door opened and a small boy entered, handing a letter to Lena.

He left, closing the door behind him. Feeling Astoria's curious eyes, Lena tore the envelope open.

 _Miss Yavari of Slytherin House,_

 _I would be honored if you could join me for tea and conversation before our arrival at Hogwarts._

 _We are in the second Private compartment in the front of the train._

 _Party starts when people arrive, so come when you are able._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Professor Slughorn_

Lena tossed the letter aside, back to eating some jelly beans. Astoria snatched it quickly and Lena was unable to stop the girl's fast hands.

"You should really go," Astoria said as she read the letter.

"I don't think that's really for me," Lena said aloud, but she was thinking of her Dark Mark.

Nearly an hour later, Lena was dressed in her school uniform and robes, and Astoria pushed her out of the compartment, having spent nearly the entire time convincing Lena to go.

Making sure to lock her trunk with a secret whish of her wand, she headed toward the club.

She seemed to be one of the last to arrive, the compartment nearly full.

Glancing around, she regretted coming at all. In attendance was Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger. People that she hated most...

Before Lena could make a sly exit, Professor Slughorn grasped her shoulder, or she assumed because he was the oldest person in the room.

"Miss Yavari, please join us."

Lena obliged, knowing what would come as the party mingled.

Parkinson would begin to talk about Yavari Enterprises.

"Miss Yavari, what do your parents do again?" Slughorn began and the entire room seemed to quiet other than the noise of the train of the tracks.

"My father runs Yavari Enterprises, of course," she began, her eyes glimpsing to Parkinson, who was muttering about the rumors to everyone; when she finally looked at Draco, she couldn't take her eyes away. _Alive._

"And your mother?" Slughorn asked.

"Is Beatrice Vitaly Yavari-"

"The Dutchess of the Russian Magical Monarch?"

Lena nodded, feeling everyone's eyes. Draco stared off into space, he seemed to have a lot on his mind.

"Don't forget to leave out the recent stocks, Yavari," Parkinson said loudly, everyone heard except for Slughorn, who was pouring himself another drink.

"A company has more to it than stocks, Parkinson."


	8. Eyes on Fire

[Chapter Eight] Eyes on Fire

"Now, as you know, each and every one of you was searched upon your arrival here tonight and you have the _right_ to know why...

"Once there was a young man, who, like you, sat in this very hall, walked this castle's corridors, slept under its roofs. He seemed to all the world a student like any other. His name: _Tom Riddle_. Today, of course, he's now known all over the world by another name, which is why, as I stand looking out upon you all tonight, I'm reminded of a sobering fact: Every day, every hour, this very minute, perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle's walls." Dumbledore drew in a long breath.

"But in the end, their greatest weapon... is you...

"There's something to think about. Now off to bed, pip pip."

 _Draco Malfoy is alive._

The pestering thought would not quit, and the sobering fact is that the most popular guy in your house is hard to ignore. Developing an austere and serious demeanor over the summer, Draco Malfoy had hardly spoken four words to anybody besides Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle. All of whom spoke in hushed whispers. However, that did not change the fact that Draco was to be Quiddich Captain, and many of the other players were demanding his playbooks.

Lena could see his sleek blonde hair ahead of her in the hallway, but she kept her pace slow, just out of his sight. The relief still flowed through her heart that he was alive, yet he hadn't even said one word to her, as if he didn't care at all.

A blush rose to her cheeks as she thought of lying in his bed that spring. Had it really meant so little to him? At the time, Lena had thought that it would mean the two of them would finally be together, as a couple. As it turns out, Draco and the Dark Lord had different plans. And so did Parkinson.

"Lena!" Somebody yelled from behind the girl.

Spinning around, Lena caught sight of Astoria's curly brown hair and twinkling brown eyes, her petite frame jogging to catch up with Lena. As Astoria reached Lena's side, Lena began a slow pace toward the basements, and as she looked forward for Draco and his goonies, he was gone. "What's up?" Lena said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Were you looking for someone?" Astoria asked curiously.

"No," Lena responded, too quickly, her eyes gazing at the new crowd of people in front of her.

"Oh, well, turn's out that the lack of student populous this year mean's new dorms; They don't want a bunch of empty dorm rooms heated all winter. Interested in being my roommate?"

Smiling, Lena nodded. Grateful she wouldn't be stuffed in a room full of first and second years. Parkinson had her own prefect room, and it was likely that Daphne Greengrass had taken the other occupancy.

Entering the open hole in the brick wall, Lena took note of that year's password. "Necetre Passus." Many students were rushing up to the dormitories to claim their space, while Lena searched the many faces for Draco.

Astoria grabbed Lena's arm, muttering, "Well, you might be okay with having the smallest dormitory, I would like one of the nicer ones." Dragging Lena up the staircase, she pulled her up toward the prefect dormitories.

They entered an empty dorm with three beds and Astoria took the bed by the window, though it was only a ground window view of the small courtyard outside. Lena took the one in the corner, and left the bed closet to the door unclaimed. Merely a second later, Millicent Bullstrode entered the room, glancing to Lena and Astoria, nodding.

Over the summer, Millicent's bulky frame had thinned out, though her ash blonde hair was still limp and frumpy, and a permanent scowl still marred her face, though there were new splatters of freckles across her cheeks. Taking a seat at the edge of the bed, Astoria made her way to the window.

All Lena could think about was the small compartment in the bottom of her trunk, which was housing some of the darkest magic in the United Kingdom, let alone the school, and when she would be alone again next to run her fingers across its surface.

"I see your Daddy's money is still buying you the nicest black robes money can buy," Parkinson said snidely in the hallway just before Advanced Potions Theory and Crafting I, and her gaggle of friends giggled robustly. Lena stopped, turning to Parkinson, wishing that she had a gaggle of friends to back her up.

"Isn't your next class in the Divination tower? You do realize that _advanced_ and _remedial_ are on opposite floors, right?" Lena snapped, and was about to turn away from the situation, but Parkinson retorted immediately:

"I know I've been on the cover of _Witch Weekly_ three times consecutively, but that's not an excuse for petty stalking, Yavari." Her never-failing gaggle giggled once more.

"Unfortunately, I don't stalk the girl that was voted _Most Likely to Get Knocked-Up._ "

"Funny you should mention that, Draco hasn't mentioned you even once. Word is that you two ended things when he found out you slept with another man, isn't that the quote from _Witch Weekly?_ "

Lena shot a glare at Parkinson, scanning her face her any truth.

"We all know that the slut is the one that proudly admits it, Parkinson. Tell me, how many times did you turn into a succubus this summer? When you were out of Draco's prying eyes, and in the modeling agencies office?" Lena smirked, reaching up to Parkinson's perfectly straightened hair-tips, gingerly running her fingers down, an obvious threat in her eyes, and then she stalked away from Parkinson could think of a retort, but before she even got a few feet away someone slammed into her shoulder.

The boy stopped and turned around. "Flint," Lena mused with hostility as she curled her fist into a ball and into her pocket.

Unexpectedly, he spat at Lena's shoes. "Sorry, I forgot you can't buy new ones like the rest of us. Prada, aren't they?"

Her jaw dropped as the eruption of giggling began. Running out of their sight and around the corner, Lena jumped into a bathroom and tried to wash the spit from her shoes. Nearly growling as she scrubbed against the suede.

Throwing her messenger bag and her cloak on her bed with force, a loud bang sounded in the dormitory.

"Bad day?" Astoria asked from the window sill, painting her toenails emerald green.

"Don't get me started," Lena muttered menacingly.

"Hey, hey, hey," the girl began, jumping down from the window sill gracefully. "Remember, you're not angry with me. No matter what fueled your fire."

"Fire? Try inferno." Lena's eyes ignited with the flame of wrath as the scenario ran through her head once more. Ripping the suede boots off her feet, she tossed them near the fireplace carelessly. "It will take nearly three-weeks to get another pair, and a trip to Italy. Those were custom, you know."

"I wouldn't want to be the one on your bad side right now." Astoria muttered, making her way slowly to the dormitory door and closing it. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Did you?" Lena retorted, still fuming with anger as she reached into her pocket, sprinkling Parkinson's black hair onto the desk.

Astoria smiled and pulled the chair back from the test, gesturing underneath. Lena made her way around, seeing the cauldron simmering above a blue fire, and a small black lunchbox. Lena reached for the lunch box as Astoria pulled a small vile from her pocket.

"Everything went as planned, I assume?" Lena inquired slowly, searching Astoria's face as she opened the lunchbox. Her expression skewed for a moment and she nodded. Looking down to the newly acquired ingredients. "Perfect," Lena mused as she began to add ingredients to the water, a slow smirk forming.

The door opened suddenly and the two jumped up from their hiding place beneath the desk.

Millicent eyed them curiously for a moment before throwing her hands up. "I don't want to know." She grabbed a Quiddich uniform from her trunk and was about to head out the door when Lena ran toward her and touched her arm.

"Trying out?"

Millicent shrugged and reached for the doorknob.

"You know they don't let girls join the team. No matter how good they are. What makes you think you can change their minds?" Astoria questioned as she moved closer to Lena and Millicent. _His mind. Draco's._

"Let's just say I have some information on Louis Flint that nobody on the team wants to get out. Draco Malfoy agreed to give me a fair chance in the tryouts."

Lena raised her eyebrows. "Well, I'd wager that you believe him, Bullstrode." A cold laugh was echoing in Lena's mind. "Coming from Draco Malfoy's former best friend and girlfriend, he's lying. And when he proves that to you on the Quiddich field today, let me know if you want help with your retaliation."

Millicent shrugged past her and out the door. Astoria crossed her arms over her chest and waited for Lena to push the door closed slowly. After a minute of silence and exchanging glances, she finally spoke. "What was that about, Lena?"

"I was hoping you could tell me, _Greengrass."_ Lena smirked and looked at Astoria. "What _dirt_ does Millicent have on Louis Flint?" Marcus Flint was a seventh year, Louis' older brother.

Astoria shrugged and headed to her bed. "What would I know? Louis is practically the next Quiddich prodigy, according to Daphne. But he was also a total loser up until they found out how good he was as a Keeper. That's all I know. What does he matter, anyway? I was under the impression that our beef was with Draco and Daphne."

"And Parkinson, and Flint evidently."

"So your plan is to blackmail all of the other Slytherins to get your popularity back?" Astoria snapped. Lena inhaled deeply and tried to ignore her flow of emotions. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," Astoria continued. "You know I'll help you no matter what. As long as my sister gets humiliated in the process... But in order for me to help you, you need to tell me everything you've been keeping from me. What happened with you and Draco?"

There was a long silence as Lena looked out the window to the students walking around outside. "Draco ignored me all summer. He took everything from me. His father, Lucius, sold his stock in our company, causing the other stockholders to sell as well. The company looks like its going bankrupt to the Wizarding Community. Thanks to Draco Malfoy.

"Even after this little fact, he decides to slander my good name all over the _Witch Weekly_ tabloids so that my own parents can't even look at me." Lena paused, unable to look at Astoria. "All the while, I was thinking he was dead, and this was just Parkinson's coy pranks. When in reality, it was him, Draco Malfoy, destroying my life, my reputation, and everything I stand for.

"So, you know Astoria, when it comes down to it, I won't be satisfied until I ruin his reputation as well. Along with Parkinson, Flint, your sister, and every other scum that ostracized me this summer." Lena turned to look at Astoria, who had taken a seat on her bed, just a few feet from Lena.

"I know your family is informed, Astoria." Lena lifted her sleeve, where the Dark Mark pulsated in the light. "The Dark Lord gave me the year off. After he made me kill my one true love, Draco Malfoy. So yeah, I'm out for revenge."

"I said _everything_ ," Astoria began slowly.

"What have I left out?" Lena mused.

"Whether or not you cheated on Draco Malfoy."

Lena's gaze snapped to Astoria. Her blood began to boil and her eyes glinted in rage. "I was _raped_. If that's what you call _cheating."_

 _But how did that get out?_


	9. Unlucky Revenge

[Chapter Nine] Unlucky Revenge

"Would you mind telling me what good a Polyjuice Potion is going to do? It will take at least 26 more days to brew. It takes a full moon cycle, Yavari," Astoria snapped bitterly from the chair, her feet resting on top of the desk.

"Well, don't you have a benevolent demeanor this morning..." Lena droned sarcastically, pulling on her shirt. "Who said we're making Polyjuice Potion?" Astoria didn't answer, so Lena continued. "It's Unctuous serum, actually."

"Sounds noisome."

"It is. And it needs our hair as well. It will make Parkinson and your sister think we're their best friends for exactly one hour, if everything goes correctly. Which will give you time to extract your blackmail, or exact your revenge, whichever you choose. It's similar to Imperio, really. The legal form of Imperio, and then a quick memory charm and we're good to go."

Astoria smiled and stood up as Lena crouched down to the potion's level. Lena gave it three counter-clockwise stirs as the cloak's hand ticked toward seven am.

"What are you planning for your revenge?" Astoria asked cautiously, glancing at Lena out of the corner of her eye as she walked toward the fireplace; Rumors didn't die out, Astoria knew Lena was scary, knew Lena was a Death Eater.

"Your brilliant mind is out of ideas already, Greengrass? Have to steal them from lil' old me?"

"Didn't realize it was a secret..." Astoria muttered, heading toward the door.

"Until I can trust you," Lena mused, but the door was closing and she wasn't sure if Astoria had heard.

* * *

The weekend had finally arrived. Lena sat kneed in front of the potion, knowing it was minutes away from being perfect. The door opened and Lena glanced up, knowing it had to be Astoria. Millicent was in Ancient Runes until four o'clock.

"Everything is ready? Where are Parkinson and your sister?" Lena inquired hastily as the potion gurgled to an uncanny shade of gray.

"Still getting ready to go to the Great Hall. We don't have much time though. We need to get the kitchens before they get to the Great Hall."

Pouring the potion into two separate vials, Lena handed one to Astoria and grabbed Parkinson's hair from the table.

"Wait!" Astoria said suddenly. "Don't you think it's a bit obvious that you wouldn't be around Parkinson and I wouldn't be around my sister?"

Lena groaned and rolled her eyes, "No. Try a memory charm, Greengrass, and stop wasting our time."

Sprinkling Parkinson's hair into her own potion, it changed rapidly to a green color, and as Astoria added her hairs, her vial turned blue. Plucking a hair from her own head, Lena added it to the vial, and the color surged emerald green. Astoria was now holding a purple vial. Passing the girl a cork, Lena corked her own vial and gestured for Astoria to follow her.

Lena popped her trunk open in a hurry, "Accio Felix Felicis." It jumped from its box, into her hand, and her closed and locked her trunk with a flick of her wand.

She chugged the potion down, and a glimmer glazed over her eyes.

The two rushed to the kitchens, and found the house elves hard at work. Lena pulled one aside when the two remained unnoticed and began speaking quickly, "Excuse me, I have a special dish I made for my best friend's birthday, do you think I could send it with her meal?" The house elf nodded and rushed back to his work station.

The two waited for about five minutes until the house elf returned, holding a plate. Lena looked around the kitchen, taking the plate from the elf hesitantly. She noticed a chalkboard, that was continually writing and erasing near the back, she rushed toward it, stringing Astoria along, dropping the plate with a clang on the marble counters.

It was scribbling the orders from the Great Hall. Lena grabbed two goblets from the cabinet by the chalkboard and placed them on the "ready" shelf. Then waved her wand at the chalkboard, changing the orders of Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson. As the goblets disappeared, Lena rushed up to the Great Hall, Astoria following quickly behind.

* * *

The four girls were in the bathroom on the second floor, ignoring Moaning Myrtle. Parkinson and Daphne seemed unaware that they were about to have revenge exacted upon them. Astoria approached Daphne, and began the long incantation to remove her sister's hair.

As Lena approached Parkinson, still facing the mirror, her eyes glinted toward Lena.

Fear.

"Something's wrong, Astoria." Lena began. Parkinson continued to stare in the mirror blantantly ignoring the conversation behind her.

"What do you mean?" Astoria asked.

"Parkinson..." Her fingers grasped her wand as the words slipped out. "...knows."

Suddenly Astoria and Lena flew back, Parkinson and Daphne spun around and started toward them.

"You filthy blood traitor, Lena. And Astoria, I never would have expected this from you, my very own sister..." Daphne spat harshly.

Lena's limbs locked as she tried to move, under a spell from Parkinson's sudden swish. Astoria glanced at Lena fearfully and dropped limply as well.

Everything suddenly felt wrong, dark. The potion had failed. Felix had let her down.

"You two messed with the wrong person." Parkinson said, walking gracefully toward them.

Suddenly, their clothes disappeared, and their wands flew into Daphne's outstretched hand.

"Good Luck."

As the door closed behind them, the spell released, and they were left on the disgusting second floor bathroom with no clothes.

Lena immediately stood up and began to look around the bathroom for anything they could use to cover themselves. But everyone knew that nobody used this bathroom. So the toiletries were hardly ever restocked. After a few minutes of futile searching for the two of them, they gave up, and were back at the circular ring of vanities and sinks.

"So..um..what are we going to do?" Astoria asked after a moment.

Lena didn't even look at her. _This had to be her fault._ Somehow. This was Astoria's fault. The potion was perfect. The plan was perfect. How else would Daphne have figured it out? Unless the bad batch of Felix had something to do with it.

The clock above the exit seemed accurate, and if it was, then they had ten minutes before any classes released. But could they make it two floors to the basement in that time or were the two of them doomed to stay in this bathroom until that night?

"Lena? What are we going to do?" Astoria repeated.

"The question is, what did you do? How did your sister find out?"

"It wasn't me, Lena, I swear, I would never do that!"

Lena rolled her eyes and prepared to make a run for it, praying the cloak in the bathroom was at least semi correct.

Opening the door and taking a quick peak, Lena made a run for it, leaving Astoria, the traitor, in the dust. As she turned the corner for the staircase, at the worst possible moment for this to happen, the bell rang, and she knew that in seconds, every single hallway would be filled with students, and she was in the center of it all with no clothes...no wand. And Astoria had stayed in the bathroom, which proved that little traitors worth.

Lena continued down the stairs, praying that the regulars were running a little late this afternoon, but everyone exited, and a few people stopped to stare at her, and for some reason all of Lena's muscles froze up. She couldn't move. Once again, at the worst possible time. Draco Malfoy exited the potions room, just in sight, and he glanced down the corridor at the commotion.

The shocked silence erupted in laughter and Lena's entire complexion would have went red from the heat of her face if it was possible. She couldn't even look at Draco. Of course he would be laughing. Lena felt the tears running down her face, and as she tried to go through the crowd, they blocked her, and she felt a spell stab her in the back, literally, and her entire body literally froze, she collapsed onto her side and she knew the worst was yet to come.

When suddenly, some from of cloth was placed over her and she felt a warm chest caress her as he picked her up. Her heart swooned for a second as she knew who it was.

Draco.

She couldn't see him, but she wanted nothing more than to turn her face around and kiss him in front of all this people. He pushed through the crowd of prying eyes and as they moved out of sight, she heard him mutter the counter-curse.

Gently setting her feet to the ground, Lena spun around, ready to hug and kiss him all over. But as her arms launched around his neck for a hug, she realized it wasn't Draco.

"Um-" Lena stuttered, pulling the jacket back over her shoulders, having falling from reaching up to hug him. "Thank you," She whispered quietly, looking into his eyes.

Why didn't she know his name? His face looked so familiar.

"Any decent person would have done it," he muttered.

"I'm Lena, by the way."

"I know," He smirked, but did not return his own name until Lena gave him an odd look. "I'm Louis. Louis Flint."

As Lena entered her dormitory, she found her wand sitting on the bed. In her anger, she channelled her magic silently in her head, _Accio!_ The wand flew into her hand.

Magic was stronger when spoken aloud, but emotions fueled magic.


	10. Wait For Me

[Chapter Ten] Wait For Me

Louis Flint was the biggest name in English Quiddich recently. Apparently, in the previous year, a scout from the Bigonville Bombers had noticed his skills in Slytherin's last match of the year. Flint was a Keeper, taking over his older brother's position immediately after his graduation from Hogwarts.

He was known to be from one of the wealthiest families in Ireland, and it is expected he will do extremely well if he takes the offer.

The Bigonville Bombers are the Quiddich team from Luxemborg, which, having no wizarding school of its own, sent out scouts to find all of the best players they could find from other countries, snatching them up young.

Louis Flint had just so happened to be this lucky.

Lena was still astonded that he had been so kind to her. All the other important purebloods in Slytherin were treating her like shit, but he didn't care what they thought, obviously, he already had his career after Hogwarts laid out for him. And not to mention the fact that nobody is going to insult or harass a person is certainly going to be a celebrity in two years.

Groaning, Lena turned over in her bed. She hadn't spoken to Astoria in two days, and she had no intention to. There was nobody else that could have told Parkinson and Daphne. Lena was sure her Felix had been crafted correctly; _Does it go bad?_ It had been more than six months since she made it.

And no matter what Astoria said about her not being the one that told, Lena wasn't so quick to believe. She could have just let the slightest hint out, maybe while threatening her sister after an argument, maybe just to tease her, maybe to betray Lena, but that was not important. What was important was that Astoria had been removed from her seat of trust. And it wasn't easy for Lena to put somebody there after what she had been through this summer. Of course, the first person she did trust would betray her somehow.

Flipping over again, Lena found herself looking at Astoria's bed.

Lena gave up on trying to make herself feel better for shunning Astoria, and decided to go for a walk and see the grounds before the first snow hit, which, by record of the last three years, would be soon.

It was only a few minutes later when a chilly breeze hit Lena's face and whipped her cloak behind her. She started off toward the lake, and instantly changed her direction as an image of a young herself appeared. And a dark-skinned handsome man, with tinged red black eyes rolling around with her on a picnic blanket.

Everything reminded her of him out here. She didn't know why she had even decided to go for a walk in the first place as she went toward the other side of the castle, where there was much less to do and see, therefore, less memories.

"I'm so sorry, Blaise," she muttered, as she trudged through the uncut grass. "I promise I will make it up to you. I will make this right."

No matter what Draco claimed Blaise had done, it didn't call for his death. Nobody deserved to die for something so trivial. And yet the person she had loved the most took him from her. And now Lena was left with nobody, not even Draco.

Lena slammed her back against the wall of the castle as everything familiar went out of sight and she fell to her knees, renewed tears of mourning taking over. So many emotions rushed forward. Anger toward Draco, toward everyone. Sadness for Blaise. Shame and humiliation for agreeing to help Regulus.

If the Dark Lord found it, it would be more than just ostracism. It would be death.

* * *

The Slytherin common room was filled with obnoxious laughter that only filled Lena with jealousy. Everyone else was having a great time, and her emotions were in a rut.

The fire was roaring, and Draco was at the center, of course, absorbing all the attention in hushed whispered and excited hoots.

As Lena began to make her way up the stairs to the dormitories, she noticed a circular packaged, wrapped in shiny red wrapping paper, sitting on the table by the message board. Immediately drawn to it, Lena reached for the tag, but was immediately intruded upon.

"Not like anyone would leave that for you, why bother checking, Yavari?" Parkinson sneered, materializing into thin air.

"You're good at that. Lurking." Lena paused and read the tag, smiling. "You know, nobody likes a lurker."

Lena began to tear the paper from the package.

"Hey!" Parkinson began to tug her hands away. "You can't just open gifts that aren't yours!"

Suddenly, with Parkinson's yell, everyone was looking at the two of them.

"It's mine," Lena growled, gesturing for Parkinson to check the tag herself.

Before Lena could stop her, Parkinson jerked the shiny red paper from the circular ball, and it wobbled dangerously close to the edge.

Lena rushed forward to stop the damage, ready to grab the falling orb.

But as the paper came off, Lena stopped in amazement.

A single albescent lily floated on top of the water, and as it was exposed to the light of the common room, it began dropping slowly to the bottom of the fishbowl, slowly changing from white to pink to red to bright orange. And as it hit the bottom, it transfigured. Lena's jaw dropped.

It was a clownfish. She had wanted one ever since she had snuck into a muggle pet store as a young child, not far from the Leaky Cauldron.

Lena watched in awe, along with the rest of the common room, as the clownfish swam to the top of the water, his upper body exposed to the air. And then he slowly lowered back to the bottom of the bowl, his googling eyes moving in all directions. Lena hadn't noticed the second gift, but she peeled the paper off, ignorant to the many prying eyes behind her.

Fish food.

Lena's smile overtook her and her fingers grasped around the tag that was on the fishbowl. She slid it into her pocket and carried the fishbowl and the fish food up to her room. Setting the bowl and the food down on her desk, her fingers unclenched around the small slip of paper.

Written in elegant handwriting:

 _To Lena, From Your Secret Admirer._

And the thought dawned on her that he had been watching her as she opened it. How else could it have gotten in the Slytherin common room?

* * *

It had been nearly a week since the fishbowl fiasco. Had it really been months since she'd spoken to Astoria? She wasn't easy to ignore, sharing a dormitory.

However, the showering of gifts had continued. Flowers of all types, boxes of chocolate, expensive jewelry, and today, at the foot of Lena's bed, a large black box with a silver ribbon adorned her morning. Jumping out of bed and hardly managing to get her arms into her robe and her feet into her slippers, Lena raced to the box and stared at it for a long minute, searching for a tag, or possibly searching for an answer to who was sending these extravagant gifts. _Could it be Draco?_

Diligently, Lena pulled on the end of the silver ribbon, and it easily pulled out of the bow and slide off the box elegantly. Grasping the edges of the box like a little girl on Christmas morning, she pulled it off; Inside, the bodice of a silky black dress was exposed, and a smaller black box with a silver ribbon on the top. Lifting the smaller box, she admired the amazing dress. The bodice had cascading diamonds that slowly thinned out as they moved away from the center.

Lena's jaw dropped. This dress would have cost thousands of galleons.

 _So my admirer is wealthy..._

Her mind instantly jumped to Draco. He of course was the wealthiest Slytherin, with his father recently expanding the Malfoy Trust Bank into Germany and Spain. The French agreement hadn't gone through.

Gently, Lena pulled on the tiny silver ribbon on the smaller black box, absolutely identical to the box the dress came in. Anxiously, she pulled the top of the box off, and inside, found a small notecard.

 _Would you go to the Hallow's Eve Ball with me?_

 _If yes, please wear this, I will match. It will be_

 _our sign to each other._

 _Your Secret Admirer_

Lena wasn't sure why it upset her so much to see the index card. Maybe because she didn't recognize the person's scrawl, and it certainly couldn't be Draco anymore.

As the girl's heart sank, she pulled the index card out of the box and slumped next to the big box. But as the light hit the tiny box in her hands, her eyes darted away from the index card, and jumped to the tiny box.

A glimmering necklace with a large diamond and matching earrings drew the light, reflections jumping around her face. A wide smile came over Lena as she gently pulled the necklace from the box. After a long moment of admiration, Lena placed the necklace gently back into the box, and went to the dress. She withdrew it from the box by grasping the bodice diligently, careful not to dislodge anything. It was a shorter dress with an unimaginably sleek hem, just enough extra fabric.

The Hallow's Eve Ball was the next day, and this was the first person to ask her. She had to admit, it was rare for _nobody_ to ask her. Usually at least one of the goons in Slytherin to ask her. This year, it seemed, nobody wanted to. Except this guy. In that instant, Lena decided that she would wear the dress, having bought nothing over the summer, she had nothing appropriate anyway, for the ball.

As Lena held the dress up, the door sprang open with a loud creak, and Lena glanced around to see Astoria, who gawked at the dress for a second before recovering her composure.

She glanced back out into the dormitory hallway, and closed the door silently, the creak, of course, was inevitable. Lena placed the dress back into the box, and grabbed the smaller box off of her bed, putting it into the pocket of her bathrobe.

Astoria approached her slowly. This wasn't the first time, she had done it several times since the incident. Always saying the same things. That she hadn't done anything wrong to betray Lena, begging and pleading for forgiveness. But Lena didn't want to forgive her, she didn't need friends, especially untrustworthy ones.

"I can prove to you that I didn't betray you," Astoria said with sudden confidence.

"And how exactly can you do that?"

There was a long pause as Lena turned to look at Astoria once more. "Because I know the bitch that did."

Lena raised her eyebrows and waiting for an explanation. "It was Millicent. It had to be. Nobody else could have seen the potion-" Her voice changed to frantic as Lena interrupted.

"That doesn't prove anyt-"

"I found out that what Millicent told us about seeing Flint over the summer wasn't true. Louis Flint has been a known man-whore since he was accepted into the Bigonville Bombers. Over the summer, Flint dated my sister for a while, but the information that Millicent was talking about, I knew it had to be something fishy, because Flint dated Daphne almost _all_ summer. I'd be willing to wager that Millicent knows about some altercation between Flint and another guy. That's got to be the reason why they broke up a few weeks ago."

Lena nodded, but she wasn't believe anything that Astoria was saying. None of it made any sense and wasn't any facts, just allegations. She was ready to let it go anyway, she needed a friend, and wasn't about to just let Astoria join the people that hate her.

"Whatever, I don't care who did it, its over, and now more than a third of the school has seen me naked. Doesn't really help my slutty reputation from the slander of the summer, but hey, whatever." There was still venom in Lena's voice, but Astoria nodded.

"Who's the dress from?" She asked, immediately changing topics.

"No idea." Lena said, sitting back next to the black box and admiring the embroidered gems.

Astoria shrugged and approached the dress, her eyes fumed jealousy, but Lena's eyes did not move from the dress, unaware of any envy.

* * *

Slipping into the expensive black silk dress, Lena stared at herself in the full-length mirror. Astoria zipped up the side gently, and helped Lena into her shoes.

"Are you ready to meet this fantasticly affluent gentleman?" Astoria chirpped- She had mentioned several times that night that she wasn't going to the ball. She had sworn going to stay in and study. Having no date herself, Astoria had been hard on herself since her and Lena had started talking again, a mere two days before the dance.

"I guess," Lena muttered, charming her hair into perfect curls with practiced ease. She applied makeup by hand as Astoria roamed around the room nonchalantly. When she failed miserably to create the desired effect, Lena charmed her eyes, smokey gray, which made them look larger. She put on some shiny lip-gloss and admired her own perfect appearance with Narcissism.

 _Am I ready to meet him?_ She asked herself hesitantly, unsure of her own answer. She went to her jewelry box on top of her dresser by the four post canopy bed and unlocked it silently with her wand. The small shiny black box sat on top, with the ribbon retied around it- not nearly as nicely as it had been when it had arrived.

Lena pulled out the box and opened it, putting the necklace and the earrings on. She felt the lingering gaze of Astoria and she turned around, closing the jewelry box, grabbing a diamond piece for her hair.

Astoria gazed at the necklace and earrings for a moment. "They're perfect." She began.

Lena nodded and went back to the mirror, doing a quick twirl. Everything was perfect. She placed the hairpiece on the opposite side of her part. And as the pins disappeared into her hair, it was left with large diamonds floating in black casings, to help make the diamonds stand out in her light blonde hair.

Glancing at the clock, she realized she was already five minutes late, which didn't alarm Lena, she was always fashionably late. Especially in such a beautiful gown, she demanded an appearance.

She gracefully moved toward the door as Astoria ushered her out. "Don't keep him waiting so long, he might find a punctual girl to dote upon!"

Lena smiled as the door closed behind her and she made her way toward the stairs, no other girls were in the dormitory hallway, likely having arrived early for the ball or were studying for classes and not old enough to go to the ball, or in the common room or outside the Great Hall, staring at all the couples and imagining their own balls in the future.

Lena slowly descended the steps and as she went around the bend, she immediately looked down in search of her suitor. When nobody awaited, Lena tried not to panic, and frantically run back to her room in embarrassment.

 _Maybe he changed his mind?_

Her panic subsided as she entered the common room, and a boy with dark brown hair, perfectly combed, and an astoundingly handsome face. Hazel eyes looking down at Lena from his tall stature and his lips curved into a halcyon smile.

Louis Flint.

As Lena reached him, he took her hand gently and kissed it. Lena blushed and took his offered arm. The exited the common room before they spoke.

"I'm glad you accepted my offer," he said, his voice deep.

"Me too," Lena said, her voice was unusual. Not confident, but slightly nervous with excitement.

 _How can he possibly have a crush on me?_

His voice intervened with her thoughts. "I've had a thing for you since the first time I saw you; I never would have seen my geeky little self on a date with someone as gorgeous as you."

Lena tried to imagine him in the years before, but drew a blank. It was as if he didn't exist the past five years. "I can't see you being very geeky." She was being honest. He was amazingly handsome, and his body perfectly toned.

"Shows how much attention you paid to me," He laughed.

"Sorry," Lena muttered, sudden embarrassment overwhelming her.

"Don't worry about it. You're one of those girls that's bound to do something amazing. A guy has to be amazing to catch your attention."

The blush only deepened. "Thank you, for the gifts," she began slowly, glancing over to him as the approached the outside of the Great Hall.

"Of course," he nodded, gazing back at her. The moment froze as he gently moved his fingers to Lena's hair, gently pushing it behind her ear, and as his lips drew closer to her cheek, he whispered, "Had to get your attention somehow." And his lips pressed against her cheek in a kiss.

They entered the open doors of the Great Hall, which had been transformed into a ballroom worthy of Dracula's mansion. As they moved into the ballroom, they were announced.

"Rosalena Yavari, and her escort, Louis Flint," and suddenly, all eyes were on them. Lena didn't even look for Draco among the crowd, her eyes glued to her amazingly handsome date, even though he was a year younger than her. But somewhere, in the crowd, she knew he was watching.


	11. Gold-Digger

[Chapter Eleven] Gold-Digger

Entering the silent dormitory, Lena crept to her bed, hitting every single unavoidable creaky floorboard. Finally reaching her bed, her eyes wandered to Astoria and Millicent, both in their own dream worlds. As the dim moonlight allowed Lena's eyes to adjust, she took off her clothes and her socks and changed into her pajamas.

She pulled the sheets and blankets down and crawled underneath the covers. Her eyes moved to the window behind the desk. Silhouetted was her jewelry box, opened. She jumped up and raced to the box, searching the inside. Nothing was missing. Nothing important was kept in the box besides expensive jewelry. And Lena certainly wasn't so stupid as to put a _locket_ that she was hiding for Regulus in her own jewelry box.

Making sure each of her expensive necklaces and earrings were still in their places, she closed the box, locking it with a circular motion of her want and a whisper on her thoughts.

Her tired body crashed back onto her bed and under the blankets. And her own fantasy shaped, complete with Louis Flint and a very jealous Draco.

* * *

Her heavy footfalls echoed as she raced to Advanced Transfiguration, struggling to control her heavy breathing as she neared the door and slowed to a walking pace.

She was almost twenty minutes late, and it was likely McGonagall had already locked the door at the classes beginning.

 _Just perfect._ Lena groaned silently as she noted the locked door and the students hard at work on their quarterly exams. It was a perfect start to a perfect day, her alarm hadn't gone off, and to make things absolutely horrible, she had hoped in the shower to wash her oily hair from all the dancing the night before, and used only her shampoo.

When she had looked in the mirror she had screamed, stumbled backward, slipped in a puddle of ice cold water and smacked her head against the wall and her butt against the floor.

Somebody had put hair dye in her shampoo. And her gorgeous blonde hair was now a disgusting mix of hideous orange and dingy rust red. Gryffindor colors.

When Lena had tried to get her hair back, the colors only brightened and Lena had burst into tears, putting on a knitted cap, and shoving the majority of the disgusting hair underneath, only a strand near her forehead peaking out, a close shade to her natural hair color.

And thus, a late start to the most important day of the quarter. Not only was it exam week, but it was the big game against Slytherin and Gryffindor. And how exactly could Lena show her support future boyfriend, who was Slytherin Keeper, when she had Gryffindor colors in her hair?

 _I'll figure out some way to get rid of it._

More determined than ever, Lena headed to the Hospital Wing, hoping she might be able to convince McGonagall after the exam was over. If she even dared to interrupt the class, she was sure to be flunked. She entered the Hospital Wing, finding it full of groaning people, more than usual, she noted.

"Miss Yavari, _get out of the way!_ " Madam Pomfrey rushed by her, her hands filled with a plethora of different viles. Lena jumped back into the doorway, and waited for Madam Pomfrey to be available. After nearly five minutes, Lena realized that that was unlikely, and moved in to help.

"Madam Pomfrey, I've missed my first class, and I am available to help, if you need it." Lena offered.

Madam Pomfrey gazed around the room of full beds and looked back to Lena. "What could you possibly do?" she demanded.

Lena answered quickly. "I'm rather skilled with potions."

The woman gazed around the room quickly and then hesitantly nodded. "Very well, get to it."

Lena rushed to the first bed on the right side of the room and then checked his chart at the bedside, and then rushed to the potions cabinet, and grabbed what she needed. Spending the next hour and a half at a rushed pace, she found that each of the students in the Hospital wing were affected by similar symptoms. About a quarter of the students were suffering repercussions from WWW products, and the over seventy-five percent were muggle-born and half-blood students, all having severe hexation damage, all of which were incurable with spells and counter-charms. They needed the strong potion agents to equal out the hexes.

Finally, she and Madam Pomfrey had helped the majority of the hurt students and took a short break at the desk as the nurse filled out some paper work.

"Thank you very much, Miss Yavari. You said it correctly when you said you're skilled with potions."

Lena nodded, and then dared to ask the question that had been on her mind since she walked in the door. "Why are there so many students in here? What happened?"

"Some pranksters sent out gift boxes, evidently," the nurse said harshly, clearly upset about the situation.

Lena let the long awkward moment pass before she turned back to the nurse. She slowly removed her knitted hat, and Madam Pomfrey looked up slowly. "My goodness, I didn't realize you were routing for Gryffindor, Miss Yavari!"

"I'm not. Somebody tampered with my shampoo. I was wondering if you had anything for it?"  
The nurse shook her head instantly. "Absolutely not, I'm more worried about broken bones, not odd hair colors."

"Please, Madam Pomfrey! I can't possibly go to the big game looking like this. Everyone in Slytherin will torment me for the rest of my life at Hogwarts!"

Back to writing, Madam Pomfrey took a long minute before looking up.

"Very well, but as you can see, I don't have much time myself. I know there is no potion of the sort made up, but you might find a potion or some other concoction in one of the books in the bookshelf in my office." The nurse moved away from the desk and went the back of the wing, opening a heavy maple wood door and ushering Lena inside.

Lena waved her wand to light the candles and headed to the bookshelf. After a few rushed minutes, she grabbed several books to look through and shoved them in her messenger bag, and then rushed out of the office, knowing that it was only a few minutes away that McGonagall's class would be out. She thanked Madam Pomfrey profusely and promised to return the books by the end of the weekend, and then she ran back to McGonagall's, and found herself panting outside the room as soon as the door opened and the entirety of the class exited- Her knitted cap was no where in sight.

Parkinson and Daphne were the first people to exit, along with their team of goonies behind them, and close behind—Draco. Lena groaned silently in horror as Parkinson began to laugh. "What happened to your hair, Yavari? Let me guess, you couldn't afford to color it, it's sad really, girls. We should start a donation fund for her—she is pureblood after all." All of the girls laughed cruelly, and Draco pushed passed them, angry at the long wait. And causing the girls to split, the rest of the class exited, and the interested students looked at Lena and began to laugh. Before anyone could see her blush, Lena entered the room and approached McGonagall's desk, where the professor was already busy grading the tests.

"Professor," Lena began and she looked up from the papers.

"Miss Yavari, I was shocked that you decided to fail this quarter, you were well on your way to becoming Head Girl next year."

"Please professor, is there any way I could take the test during lunch? Somebody sabotaged me, turning off my alarm, and then putting hair dye in my shampoo, and a hundred other things this morning that I don't want to go into." Lena rubbed the back of her head at the thought, and felt tears coming to her eyes. "Please."

After a long moment of Lena's pity party, McGonagall nodded. "Very well, Miss Yavari, but know it's only because I have no desire to see Miss Parkinson as Head Girl. She's positively vile."

Lena gave a quick smile and rushed to Potions. Glad that it was the one class she could see Draco without Parkinson's interference.

* * *

"Who does she think she is?!"

Parkinson's voice always seemed to put Lena in the worst moods.

"Uh, Yavari, you know you can't sit over here with those hair colors right? You need to be on the other side, to support Gryffindor."

"You would know, don't you have a thing for Potter?" Lena hummed as she moved further away from the girls.

"Afraid of the truth, Yavari? I can't help it that I'm a model and you're just a some trailer trash with a bad hairdo. Hope you did well on your Transfig exam."

"Oh, well you know, on my way to Head Girl next year, so well, obviously."

"Can't be Head Girl with a T on your Tranfiguration exams. How're you planning on getting out of that?" Parkinson asked, her voice actually panicked.

"Oh, honey, you're not pretty enough to be that stupid."

Lena turned back to the game as the Captain's shook hands and the players took off around the field. Louis Flint passed the Slytherin towers more slowly than the rest of the players, and enjoyed the long applause. Securing her knit cap that was Slytherin colors, he passed by her and winked. She blew him a quick invisible kiss, and he smirked as he zoomed away, heading to the Quiddich hoops. Lena noticed Draco, already in a heated search for the snitch. He wasn't about to lose to Harry without a fight.

Lena found herself watching the Quiddich hoops. Louis blocked every single attempted throw, and by the end of the game, Lena was unsure of the score, and didn't care. Louis Flint liked her. Not Parkinson, not Daphne Greengrass, not some other girl. Her.

Her smile was wide as the game ended and everyone on Slytherin's tower began to cheer. Lena stood up and cheered for Louis, being that he was the only reason Slytherin had won, along with a few chance chasers. Harry Potter caught the snitch.

Lena rushed down the stairs before the crowd and headed off to find Louis near the locker rooms.

"Hey gorgeous," he said as she approached, putting his broom in the broom cabinet. "Let me get changed, and well head to the after party."  
Lena nodded and waited as he headed into the locker room. Mere seconds later, a gaggle of whores approached, complete with "Slut" sneezing, directed at Lena.

Parkinson stopped when she was in front of Lena, and her groupies swarmed. "You know, Daphne and Louis dated for a long time, Lena. It's really kind of you to take out the trash."

Lena ignored them, and continued to wait, begging Merlin that Louis would hurry up.

"No clever come backs saved up? Sad that you have to steal other people's boyfriends to get attention, wasn't that what got you into trouble in the first place? Sleeping around?"

"It's really adorable when you scrunch your nose up, sweetheart, you remind me of a dog," Lena snapped, though she had been determined to ignore the spawn of Satan.

Louis had impeccable timing, and Parkinson turned to him. "Careful, Louis, she's damaged goods. And a known Gold-Digger. She's only interested in your money, since her own family fortune is dwindling-"  
"Lena," He smiled, extending his arm to her. And she gratefully accepted as he pulled her away from them.

"Thank you," She whispered when they were out of earshot of Parkinson.  
"You don't deserve to be treated like that. Are they the ones that fucked with your hair?"

Lena shrugged, "Probably." Her thoughts drifted to a cauldron in the broom cabinet, bubbling with the antidote to her hair's disgusting demise. "What goes around comes around. I already have the antidote brewing."

"Glad you're not one of those crazy chicks that wants revenge," Louis said as they entered the common room, Lena thankful for the distraction as everyone cheered and she blushed. Suddenly a million hands were pulling Louis away and Lena was left in the dust.

"Yeah, me too." Lena insides laughed at her pathetic lie. _He doesn't know how wrong he is._


	12. Simmer

[Chapter Twelve] Simmer

The potion simmered, a silent bubble that could not be heard unless you were within a few feet of it. The brunette smirked and left the bathroom.

 _The polyjuice potion will be ready tonight._

Her jealousy raged as she thought of that filth, Yavari, with the love of her life. How could Louis Flint do that to her? They had been together for years, and he just tosses her aside and takes that slime, Yavari. He had said he loved her. She had loved him. How could he do this to her?

* * *

Lena held hands with Louis Flint. It was Saturday, the day after the big game, and Lena was thankful for some time away from her intense studies.

She was determined to make Head Girl next year, and no pesky tricks would stop her. Louis waited for her outside of the Potions dungeon, and she lept into a hug and resisted the urge to kiss him. She could afford to rush things and ruin them. Or did she need to rush things to stay with him because that was how Louis was?

Unsure of his reputation, Lena preferred not to look like a slut and just remain herself.

She had only slept with one guy, subtracting the one incident that she tried desperately to forget, and she wasn't about to go around living up to Witch Weekly's reputation for her.

Louis took her hand and pulled her toward the Great Hall.

In the short time Lena had taken note of Louis Flint, she had found that he was a gigantic attention whore, and loved nothing more than to sign pre-fame autographs while Lena was pushed inevitably away from him by the accumulating crowd, until he finally got his fill and found her at the Slytherin table, the end farthest away from Draco Malfoy, and the other Slytherin players, as well as the Slytherin groupie girls.

Louis took a seat next to her that afternoon and grabbed some toast from the center dish as Lena ignored the plate of food in front of her and took a sip of orange juice.

Her own gloomy attitude caused a question to arise.

"Everything okay, Lena?" Flint asked.

 _He hasn't even asked me to be his girlfriend yet. Who am I kidding?_

The blonde felt a blush arise to her cheeks and her eyes darted down to her plate. "Yeah." She muttered in response, not caring how long it had taken her to answer. She did her best to chipper up and ignore the mutters coming from the end of the table. A quick glance assured her that her and Louis were still the topic of the hour...or week.

Louis shrugged and began to stuff his face. Lena waited politely for him to finish his meal without any further questioning.

"Do you want to come to Hogsmeade with us today?" He asked after a sip of some tea.

 _With us._

Why did those words stand out so much to Lena?

"With who?" she asked hesitantly, felling her eyes glance toward Draco.

"Just some of the team, and a few others."

Her stomach churned and she looked down at the other end again. Despite how far they were away, Lena still felt like they could see every flinch on her face, every mistake in her step. Drawing a long breath, Lena answered, "I don't know if that's the best idea."

Louis eyes darted up quickly. "Really?"

Lena shrugged and looked back at her plate.

"Look, half these people aren't half as bad as you make them out to be. And most of them are just intimidated by you," he began slowly, choosing his words carefully and managing to confuse himself.

"Intimidated?" Lena spat sarcastically. "They loathe me."

"What person wouldn't be intimidated by a gorgeous, intelligent young blonde?" Louis smirked and Lena melted, nodding, agreeing to go.

Louis jumped up and snatched Lena's arm, dragging her toward the crowd of Slytherin's forming by the Great Hall.

Louis wasn't exactly known to be the most observant of people. And he certainly didn't hear the whispers about Lena as they passed, but the girl ignored them, and tightened her grip on Louis' hand.

 _This is the last place I want to be._

The group consisted of every single Quiddich player, and most of the richer purebloods from Slytherin...Including Draco, and a gaggle of his fan girls.

Lena held her chin high and proud as they walked down the snowy pathway to Hogsmeade, remaining silent as Louis began to chat up some of his fellow players. He pulled his hand away from hers, using his hands as he began to talk about some weird new play he had thought up.

"Talk to Draco about it," some guy told him, and Louis immediately went toward Draco, dragging Lena with him. Lena felt herself blushing profusely and hoped that it was not more than the chilly wind would have caused.

"Hey, Malfoy," Louis began and suddenly the two of them were next to Draco, Lena on the far side, of course. Louis repeated his play, but as Lena looked up at the conversation, Draco's eyes were on her.

Her blush deepened and she didn't dare speak. It felt as though time froze, and she enjoyed his gaze, having not experienced it in so long.

Draco forced himself to look away, and back at Flint. "Not now, Flint, can't you tell I'm busy?" Draco's eyes narrowed and he latched arms with two of the younger Slytherin girls, Parkinson budded in immediately, taking Draco's left arm.

Lena looked away as Louis spoke. "What's his deal?"

Wondering the same thing, Lena shrugged. _Could it be possible that he still has feelings for me?_ The thought made her smile and she suddenly felt the clench in her chest disperse and a wide smile forming on her cheeks.

The large group was now entering Hogsmeade and toward the Three Broomsticks. Lena followed along easy and they took the large corner table.

Flint put his arm around Lena and tugged her closer. Allowing him, Lena found herself scanning the table, searching for the eyes that she felt piercing her. And as she found them, she drew a sharp inhale of breath.

His gray eyes flickered dangerously beneath the dim lighting, and Lena's insides erupted in butterflies. Her palms sweated profusely as the waiter took the large order, and Draco withdrew his wallet to pay, though his eyes always returned back to one place. Her.

Immediately, Flint bustled for his own wallet, and took out several galleons, a rather large tip for the waiter. The waiter took Flint's money, because Draco had been slower. Draco's eyes flickered dangerously back to Flint now, moving between Lena and him rapidly.

Lena pulled herself to Flint's ear, feeling Draco's gaze, and of course, Flint was oblivious to Draco, and he held Lena's leg with his large warm hand. "When are we going to get to spend some time alone?" she whispered quietly, knowing the loud bustle at the table would overrule her whisper.

Louis smirked and squeezed Lena's leg. Unable to control her escaping giggle, she jumped several inches into the air in response, and tried to playfully pull Flint's hand away, knowing she had gone into a dangerous zone. Draco's eyes were now stationary on them, as the drinks were delivered.

The waiter tried to get Draco's attention, but failed miserably. "Sir, could you pass these down?" After several more attempts, the situation quieted the entire table. And suddenly everyone was looking at Draco, and following his gaze...

...to Lena.

Lena felt her cheeks turning cherry red and suddenly Draco returned to reality, and roughly shoved the drinks down past him, uncaring of the sloshing liquids. Parkinson grabbed Draco's arm, and he roughly shoved her off of him, the rest of the table now returning to normality.

Louis' unawareness of the situation ceased and his eyes found Draco's. Flint brought Lena's hand to the table and clasped his fingers with hers as he took a steady drink from his butterbeer.

After one last glance at Lena, Draco looked away and returned to the conversation at his side of the table. Louis glanced at Lena and gave a reassuring smile and the rest of the time passed with no more events.

After the drinks, the group split up, and Lena pulled Louis away from the group, ignoring all the different eyes on her. He trudged along behind her for a long while until they reached the edge of the town, she went into a small apothecary and Louis followed her inside.

Lena grabbed several of the items she could not get from within the school without stealing and gave the old woman at the register a large tip.

As she finished paying and held the different items in her bag, she walked up to Louis, who had occupied himself looking at a book about potions and serums for broomsticks. She placed a few more sickles on the counter for the book, and walked out of the store, pulling Louis by his arm.

Louis Flint was certainly not that vocal of a person, and was much more physical than verbal. Lena didn't mind, it was nice to walk with someone that didn't constantly pester her about her past, or bring up Blaise, or why she always wore long sleeve shirts.

Even in the shower, Lena hardly noticed her Dark Mark anymore. It never seared as it had over the summer. In fact, it hadn't seared in calling since the day the Dark Lord had told her she had the year off.

It was not surprising that nobody had told her about Draco until she herself saw him on the train—she would have been furious. But it was sad that the day she was looking forward to the most was the day she was going to be able to confront the Dark Lord, the Malfoys, and her parents. At the Ball this Christmas, a mere two months away now.

Louis pulled her onto a path that led to the Shrieking Shack, and Lena followed skeptically. He led her to a patch of leafless trees, held her hands gently. Reaching his hand up to her cheek, he pulled her gently toward his face, and her entire body was tingling with desire. How long had it been since somebody had touched her this way?

It was then that Lena realized that besides the caress of the Dark Lord, nobody had touched her, skin on skin contact, since the day she had gotten her Dark Mark. She did not realize that she would ever feel comfortable with somebody touching her again, besides Draco of course. His body heat seemed to warm her very soul.

But now, as Louis stroked her cheek gently with her thumb, she let him press his lips against her gently and slide his tongue inside. She twirled her tongue in his mouth and sucked on it gently as they pulled away, their breath heavy on the cold air. He gave her another peck on the lips as they headed up the back trail toward the Hogwarts entrance, and Lena's body felt a renewed sense of warmth and welcoming, grateful that somebody wished to touch her this way, after all the evil her body had been though, how had she managed to remain attractive to anybody at all?

Her thoughts zoomed to Draco's jealous rage in his eyes, and her heart soared again, and she pushed her body closer to Louis' as his arm tightened around her, and she shivered unconsciously at the thought of the Dark Lord's touch.

Awaking to an icy chill from the window, Lena shivered and jumped up to close the window. Her wand shot sparks at the fireplace and it ignited. She bundled her robe around her, and collapsed on her bed, feeling absolute bliss erupt as the images from yesterday imprinted in her mind once more. Her fingers lingered over her lips at the thought of the top of Louis and her at the top of that hill, surrounded by dark and gloomy trees, snow scattering over them and landing on their eyelashes. It was the perfect moment.

Lena sighed and slid her feet into her slippers as she moved toward the common room with a change of clothes slung over her arm. It was early morning on a Sunday; it was likely that nobody would be awake. She headed out of the common room in the cold dungeons, and worked her way upstairs, the clattering of bricks aligning behind her was the only sound on the chilled air.

Several minutes later, Lena found herself in front of the bathrooms on the seventh floor. She entered easily after a moment of arguing with a bird who asked for the password.

She entered the familiar circularb hallway, and instead of continuing down the Slytherin hallway, like she had so many times before, she turned around and headed down the Ravenclaw wing, and entered a door in the middle.

When she exited the room nearly an hour later, a heavy pile of steam escaped behind her, smelling of effervescent flowers and exotic fruits. As she moved around the large statue in the center of the wings to the exit door, a door down the Slytherin hallway opened. Lena was in a sudden panic. It could only be two people, or possibly someone that had snuck in just as she had.

Before she had a chance to hide, a figured exited the door and Lena exhaled a relieved sigh as she saw the white blonde hair amongst the emerging steam.

Draco stopped as soon as he saw her. He hadn't gotten dressed yet. His chest was exposed and a white towel was wrapped around his waist. Lena's heart pattered rapidly at the sight of him, but she urgently reminded herself of how he had treated her for all of the summer, for the past few months of school, and she scoffed making her away toward the exit.

Suddenly, Draco's arm was on hers. His touch ignited her entire arm and shoulder, and it spread a tingling feeling throughout her body. Lena drew a sharp inhale as he pushed her arm until she was forced to look at him.

He towered above her, growing even taller since the year before. His new serious stare caused Lena to melt, and she felt as though soon she would be a mere puddle at his feet. He looked into her eyes for a long time, and spoke no words. Lena found herself forgetting to breathe, and the minutes lasted seconds, before he nodded plainly and walked away, releasing her shoulder.

As the door closed behind him, Lena collapsed against the edge of the statue, gasping for breath, and felt actual tears of joy come to her eyes. Her heart pattered with excitement, and it took her a long time to recover and stand up. The long amount of time caused her hair to go stark cold and she quickly waved her wand, and began to charm it dry as she exited the bathrooms, every bit of her still shaking with the overwhelming emotions.

When she entered the Slytherin common room, Draco was fully clothed and surrounded by his charming group of followers. And as Lena had done each time she gazed at him, longing for him to look back at her- for the first time, he looked back at her, and gave her a small wink that was so tiny that it went unnoticed by everyone except Lena and Draco.

The tremendous weight on Lena's chest began alleviating once more, just a tiny bit more.

* * *

Each day that passed, Lena looked for that gaze from Draco. And each time, he returned it, and each time, the same feeling erupted inside of Lena, never dimming from the times before.

Lena glanced over this particular morning, a few days after the incident in the bathroom, and Louis met her at the bottom of the girl's dormitory steps. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and exited the common room, just soon enough to miss the rage in Draco's eyes, and the prodding of his followers, asking him what was wrong.

The day's classes went normally, and Lena went out to the Quiddich pitch after classes to watch Louis practice for the day, and perhaps to get another wink from Draco, though she wouldn't dare admit it aloud.

She went to the bottom of the pitch instead of going up to the stands and saw Draco looking particularly happy, especially considering his demeanor since the start of school, chatting up the usual crowd, leaning against his broom.

Lena searched for Louis among the crowd and when she didn't see him she veered other way but not before catching the drift of Draco's boast.

She instantly was reminded of the year before, with Blaise: that smirk. Not just a normal smirk from Draco; it was positively evil.

Lena rushed up to the Hospital Wing, praying that her instincts were wrong. When she entered, she was immediately proved right.

Louis sat in a partially curtained bed, with a large pile of gifts forming at the bottom. At the sight of him, Lena wasn't sure why the surge of joy pulsed through her veins, happy that Draco had been so jealous perhaps, but as she approached the bed, her smile quickly turned down as she saw Louis' leg held up by a string and a large white cast covering past his knee.

He saw Lena and wave a weak smile, wincing in pain as he struggled to move to see her. Lena placed her hand gently on his shoulder urging him not to move.

"By the look on your face, I can tell you don't seem surprised." Louis began.

Lena shrugged, wanting to hear it from his lips before her own. "Who?" she said, allowing a sudden expression of confusion to cross her face.

Louis frowned at her, and she looked into his eyes as he responded. "Malfoy. Didn't even tell me what I did. But judging from the day we went out for butterbeers..." His voice trailed off.

Lena leaned forward and sat down next to him holding his hand. She gave him a quick peck on the forehead, and then found herself speaking before she had fully considered her thoughts.

"I don't know if we can keep seeing each other." Lena paused and glanced away as Louis gave a pained look. "I'm sorry, I can't have a repeat of last year. I've lost so many people that are important to me, and if I have to suffer to keep the people I care about safe, then I will do so."

Louis nodded, barely, but Lena saw it, and she began to walk away. "If you walk away, its because you want to. You can't just walk away from something when its real, or because you don't want to get hurt and say its to protect me. If you walk away, its because you want to," He repeated and Lena felt a tear surface.

She nodded, and didn't dare respond, knowing the knot in her throat would erupt. Her eyes pleaded for him to forgive her, and she left the room, knowing that the same opportunity would never arise again.

Lena was positive that if she had stayed with Louis, and allowed herself to care for him, she would inevitably lose him. And she would only have herself to blame. Just as with Blaise.


	13. Within Temptation

[Chapter Thirteen] Within Temptation

How many days had passed? How many longing looks? And how many times had Lena's heart split when she saw Draco with Parkinson and Daphne. Her rage flared easily and before she knew it, she was the top female student in Slytherin, and it was Christmas break.

As she walked out of Hogwarts with her trunk floating behind her as a diligent follower, the bleak mid-winter breeze glazed the girl's cheek and a shiver ran through her spine, just as the silver gray eyes came into view, and the mess of blonde hair, tousled from the wind.

Draco spun around once more, and Lena slowed her pace, noticing the large crowd of people surrounding him. The train wasn't due to leave for another ten or twenty minutes at least. The girl looked up at the dreary winter trees, some leafless, and other with sharp pine needles, spreading a wonderful scent with each gentle breeze. The girl shivered once more, this time not from the cold, her thoughts arriving on the events that were to come in the next two weeks. The girl almost wished that she could stay at Hogwarts from the break, but knew that would be unacceptable.

* * *

A chilly disposition overcame Lena as she approached the front door. A house elf stood outside, ankle deep in snow, no doubt at the demand of her psycho parents. They had also likely forbade the elf from warming itself with magic or clearing the snow by hand.

The elf immediately jumped out of the snow and opened the door, taking precautions to avoid getting any of the snow indoors. As Lena entered, the elf hit the hems of her cloak and robes with a spell the dried them instantly.

The girl turned back and waved her wand at the spot beneath where the elf had been standing, the snow melted away, exhuming tremendous steam. She spun around and entered her home, which had remained unchanged for as long as she could remember. She passed through the entryway which she had destroyed earlier that year, perfectly repaired, and continued quickly to her room, avoiding the accretion of voices coming from the sitting room and the dining room.

By the time Lena reached her own room, the voices had gone completely silent. Her trunk still followed behind her obediently and as it entered her room, it found its place at the foot of her bed, atop a table. Lena glanced over the table of presents, which she had never opened from her birthday over the summer. She had been so upset over Draco she had had no desire to do anything but mourn, let alone open presents or celebrate her impending old age. As she filled the tub, the steam helped to push the thoughts out of her mind, and she prepared herself for the best acting she would ever have to do in her life.

* * *

As the masked figured descended the staircase, everyone turned in awe. She wore a black and gold ballgown, and a matching mask. It was the Masquerade Ball Lena's parents held very rarely. The black on the skirt and bodice shone beautifully under the lights, and the gold trim and lacing throughout glistened luminously. A single gold bracelet laced her arm, elegantly bordering the Dark Mark. It felt almost a relief to let it show.

Lena finally stepped down the last step and made her way through the crowd to the open bar. She wouldn't be able to make it through tonight sober, but as she reached the table, she reminded herself that she needed to keep the utmost grip on her mind. Steering away, she found herself alone at the edge of the ball, unwilling to make conversation with any of the other Death Eaters, and avoiding any of the kids from school, Lena was thankful she wore a mask. Though an intelligent person could quickly distinguish who she was, she was hoping that the available alcohol would help to divert attention.

Suddenly, someone was in front of her, offering his hand. Lena shook her head quickly and coldly gave the man a rough bump on the shoulder. Tempted to head back up to her room, Lena found herself looking up at the gold throne that the Dark Lord sat in.

She felt his eyes meet hers and she nodded. Her thoughts menacingly went to her feelings of rejection, and she knew that he had heard, and the probing began in her mind.

 _How could you keep it from me that Draco was alive?_

The probing continued but no answer came. After a few painful pokes the answer streamed into her head, causing a headache. _I do not have to justify my reasons to you._

Lena moved away, careful not to smile, to show her joy that she had outsmarted him, defeated him. Was she, Lena Yavari, more cunning than the ever famous Tom Riddle? Could that notion even be remotely possible? The girl hindered her conceit quickly as a tall man appeared in front of her her.

She took his hand without hesitation and waited for the next song to begin.

The two stood across from each other, and their eyes met. Those perfect silver gray eyes. Lena's heart melted as the music began, the gentle strum of a guitar echoed off the acoustic panels on the walls. All the other people faded away as their eyes met, and they circled each other for a moment before Draco grasped her hand and her waist. A silent gasp escaped and Lena felt the warmth overcome her entire body as she glided gracefully across the marble floor.

All of his sins were forgiven, at least for that moment. Nobody mattered except for him.

The song came to a blissful end and Lena pulled away from him, giving a small smile, but she couldn't ignore the piercing sensation in the back of her neck.

They were being watched.


	14. Catch Me If You Can

[Chapter Fourteen] Catch Me If You Can

Perhaps she was just being reckless because Draco hadn't looked at her since the Masquerade Ball. Either way, as Lena's vision faded and the ground zoomed toward her, her memory induced her.

* * *

Lena was sitting in the Great Hall, at the far end, away from the "popular" Slytherins. She didn't want to be anywhere near Parkinson, Daphne, Draco, or even Louis, especially with his longing glances that Lena always immediately shot down with a cold shoulder.

As she reached down to her plate and picked up her piece of toast, a large slimy spit-wad shot at her and landed smack on her toast. Resisting the urge to vomit, she heard the eruption of laughter, and a rush of blood came to her cheeks. The toast dropped to the plate, and her eyes loomed toward the center of the laughter. Another spit-wad flew at her and she barely dodged it. But with her sudden weave, another slimy wad landing in her hair and Lena felt tears coming to her eyes and she reached for her wand in her pocket.

A sudden movement caught her eyes. Draco stood up from his spot and walked a length down the table and grabbed to boys by their collars, he whispered something in their ears with a threatening expression. He then grabbed a straw from the jar on the table, made a point to get an extra disgusting spitball and shot it at one of the boys. It landed on his face and as he jumped up, as though to fight Draco, he immediately sat down as he realized his inferiority in both stature and build.

Lena's eyes immediately met Draco's as he turned to look at her. Her heart melted and she waved her wand at her hair, but still rushed from the Great Hall quickly, the impending blush only worsening.

* * *

The blackness turned to light as Lena's eyes winced open slightly. They immediately shot closed once more at the bright light.

Her mind was painting vivid images now. What she thought she had seen was impossible. He couldn't be here. He wouldn't be here.

What had happened? Images of a broom and the night sky, lights rushing at her.

Lena forced her eyes open once more and he still sat there.

Draco.

"Hey." He said calmly, as if nothing had happened.

Lena couldn't bring words to her lips, past the shaky lump in her throat. _Draco saved me. He still loves me._ A worried expression came over Draco's face.

"Are you okay? I guess you hit your head a bit harder than I thought. I barely got to you in time."

"You...saved me." Her voice was shaky and her eyes didn't move from Draco's.

He shrugged carelessly and stood up.

"You're leaving?" Lena moaned. She didn't want him to go, not yet. How could he save her life, and then just leave her again?

"I, unlike you, don't have any excuses for getting out of class. I'll come by later," He promised. Lena nodded as his back turned and he walked away from her. She wanted to jump up and hug him, she wanted to kiss him all over and thank him for saving her from her own intentional stupidity.

 _Why did I even get on that broom anyway?_

She groaned and quickly forced herself back into a nightmarish sleep, praying that when she awoke, Draco would be there again.

He wasn't.

Her eyes searched the dark room, and her ears ignored the endless moaning coming from several students. She pushed herself up in bed. She still felt weak, but felt it must be from the lack of food. How hurt could she be? Draco had saved her life. _Why am I still in the Hospital Wing?_ Pulling her cloak off of a chair next to the bed, she stood up and worked her way slowly toward the foot of her bed, where several blatant hate notes had been left. Ignoring them, she worked her way toward the Slytherin common room.

The stark quiet of the hallways, and the lack of teachers and prefects patrolling said that it was late in the night and that Lena could move around freely without worry. The bricks loudly clacked against each other as the door to the Slytherin common room opened.

Her eyes instantly darted to the couch. It was the last thing she had expected to see, Draco, asleep in the large armchair. Lena crept toward him and for some reason sat on his lap. He opened his eyes sleepily, and, as expected, gave her that sleepy smirk that she loved.

Knowing she was taking advantage of him, Lena pushed her guiltiness away. He would never wrap his arms around her waist if he were awake.

Finally the guilt overwhelmed her and she carefully peeled herself away from him, her heart fluttering with regret as the warmth and tingling faded.

The girl sat on the couch and waited for him to awake. A long few hours later, as Lena nearly drifted off into sleep herself, his eyes flickered and looked over to her. She looked at him lazily and he gazed back at her, suddenly looking awake.

Giving a weak smile as he stood up, she waited for him to leave without word, but he stood in front of the fireplace for a moment, and Lena took the opportunity to approach him. He turned as he heard her move and let her stop silently in front of him.

Their eyes met for several minutes that passed in what felt like seconds.

"Thank you," Lena whispered finally, and her face quickly moved toward his, preventing any rejection from him as she stood on her tiptoes. Her lips met his cheek and she kissed gently.

Her heart began racing and she didn't let herself look out of breath as she pulled away and looked at him once again. His eyes looked at her ardently and his mouth gaped open slightly with faltering breath.

Suddenly, he reached forward and wrapped his fingers gently around her neck, pulling her close to him and drawing her lips to his with urgency. Their tongues intertwined and Lena's entire body exploded. The thoughts in her mind pushed past her own physical needs and she pulled away from him, racing up the girl's dormitory, thankful that Draco would be unable to follow.

 _Did that really just happen?_ Lena's thoughts buzzed as the potions from the Hospital wing made her woozy, her mind clouded.


	15. Fables

[Chapter Fifteen] Fables

Her eyes were instantly drawn to him, as though his mere presence called to her. Her breath wavered slightly as his eyes met hers and the entwining the night before flushed her memory once more. The Defense Against the Dark Arts class was almost full, and Professor Snape already stood at the chalkboard. Lena stealthily took a seat at the edge of the class and thanked that she was a Slytherin. If a Gryffindor had done the same thing, they would have had detention cleaning some disgusting untouched part of the castle.

Snape droned on and Lena allowed her thoughts to relive the moment with Draco. Each time she thought of it, her fingertips rose unconsciously to her lips, gently touching were Draco had, her heart pattering with unfailing puissance, causing a lump in her throat as she thought of him, less than ten yards away, laughing at some joke that Crabbe and Goyle were going on about.

 _He still loves me_ , her thoughts mused.

Suddenly he stood from the table with Crabbe and Goyle and began to make his way through the crowd of suddenly scattering students, toward Lena.

As Draco took the seat next to hers, she felt her cheeks burn red and she forced herself to look at the book on the table. Professor Snape must have asked that everyone get into pairs. Why would Draco blatantly leave his safe group of friends into loser zone by Lena?

No matter the circumstances, Lena was happy about it. She wanted to be close to him. Snape wrote a page number on the board and began to pass out small boxes to the class.

The two subdued their creature almost immediately, leaving an awkward silence between them. Their eyes would meet as though they were only young children looking at their crush. There were hardly any words exchanged until they walked out of the class into the corridor outside.

"Have you been feeling okay?"

Lena blushed. "What do you mean?" _Was he talking about last night or something else?_

"I guess you really must have bumped your head pretty hard." He smirked and Lena's knees felt like jelly.

 _Okay, Draco. You can ignore our thirty seconds in heaven if that's what you want._

"I feel fine." She said, hoping her face didn't show her embarrassment.

* * *

Draco's fine blonde hair rustled faintly against the wind, and shone against the brilliant sun as it neared the horizon. Had he really asked her to meet him tonight? It felt like a dream. How could he completely ignore her for so long, and act as though he didn't care, and then to pull her heartstrings at just the mere thought of being with him once more...was cruel.

"Draco." She spoke quietly, but the wind carried her airy voice to the man. He stood and turned. Lena gazed at him for a long time. His expression had grown so serious. The once young boy she saw in the corners of his eyes was now gone, and all that resided was a furious lust as he looked at her.

For some reason, the image of herself, the year before came to mind. How she had become uncaring about anything but her studies, and her bodily needs. Of course, she had still loved Draco, but love could wait. Power could not wait. If the Dark Lord was unable to complete his goals, they would all be doomed to Azkaban for the very marks on their arms.

Lena glanced down at her long sleeves. Though the chilly breeze made her thankful, she knew what singed beneath the black robe, and it had remained hidden for as long as she could remember. It was not some shameful tattoo she should have to hide- it was a proud mark of her service to the Dark Lord. And if the war was lost, it would sentence her to be apart from Draco, just out of reach, in a nearby cell. Never able to feel his caress again.

Lena snapped back into the present, the moment had passed and Draco now stepped toward her. She looked away from his eyes, and gazed over his body with desire quenching within her.

"Lena." He whispered, and suddenly he was in front of her. Their eyes met and Lena struggled to find her breath and he swooped in, pushing her against the stone wall roughly. His lips met hers in a frantic kiss. Lena gasped desperately for breath, her entire body igniting beneath his warm fingers, the feeling of icy cold rushing out of her. Her eyes shot open, and the sunset matched the feeling within her, an orangy- pink glow radiated from the sky, casting the light against the dark gray stone walls of Hogwarts. It was jaw-dropping beauty, that during any other moment, it could not have been ignored, but her eyes closed after only a second's glance, and she feverously searched for Draco's mouth, for Draco's hair, for Draco's chest, and the sunset was driven from her mind easily.

As they pulled apart finally, Lena leaned her head forward and pressed it against Draco's.

"This is wrong." The words found her lips before Lena had deemed approval from them.

Draco nodded but his lips met hers once more. She looked into his eyes, and saw that the stoney gaze had fazed into ardent magical light.

"What if we're caught?" Lena asked, knowing how lowly the other students looked upon her.

Draco shrugged and pulled her head to his once more, ignoring her questions and pushing her toward his own desires. Of course, it wouldn't hurt Lena to be seen with Draco. But it seemed his own reputation would be ruined. Or not, depending on how crazy the Slytherins were feeling this year. It seemed impossible for Draco to ruin his reputation.

It was nearly an hour later before Lena walked away from the tower, with Draco rushing off to do something he couldn't tell her even a word about. Though Lena had the slight feeling of being used, she ignored the pestering thought, assuring herself that she was using him too.

Her eyes gleamed with a radiant glow, a haze left over from the brilliant sunset perhaps. It seemed to fit her own happiness regardless. Her heart seemed to be floating within her, and her body was fleeting. She didn't feel any pain, or any icy cold streams running through her. Just warm and perfect.

* * *

Unsure what had persuaded her to do so, Lena rose from her bed deep in the night, remaining absolutely silent and avoiding each of the creaky tiles with practiced ease. She found herself at her trunk. She muttered the spell and the trunk unlocked. Lena reached inside, and found the small metal ring she had been searching for. She pulled on it and a small door opened to reveal the lock box which held the locket.

Her fingers grazed the edges of the locket, and as she did so, a power surged into her. Could it be possible? Was she taking the power from his locket?

The chill that she hadn't felt since Draco and her had met on the Astronomy tower returned. Shivering, Lena replaced the locket, enjoying the rush of chilly energy that ran through her.

What compelled her to do what she did next, she was unsure. Sure to lock everything back up tightly, and sure that Astoria and Millicent both were absolutely unstirred, she made her way to the door and then down the steps from the girl's dormitories. She then rose the opposite staircase and made her way down the hallway. She stood in front of the prefects door in a matter of seconds and she knocked quietly, wondering if Draco had chosen to change rooms.

Almost a minute after her knocking, and hearing some kind of bustling inside, her knuckles rose to the door once more and she rapped again impatiently. The door flung open, though it made no sound. Draco stood, looking furious at whoever had disturbed him, but as he saw her, his eyes softened slightly, though it did not relieve them of the dull lack of emotion.

Lena nodded, and suddenly felt exposed as his eyes traveled over her. She wore only a small nightgown, covered by a short, silky black robe.

Draco stepped out of the way and allowed her to enter the room. Lena did so and the door closed silently once more. Draco walked to his desk and sat back down, clearly returning to what he had been doing.

"You may speak freely, the walls, doors, and windows are all soundproof." There was a seriousness to Draco's voice that Lena did no recognize, and though he told her she could speak freely, she had the feeling that he was too preoccupied to listen in the first place as he shuffled through his papers.

How much had changed since last year? She found herself asking, but silently went to his bed and sat on the edge to watch Draco after a quick look around the room. Which contained only a few pieces of furniture despite its expansive nature.

He worked for a long time, and Lena leaned against his many pillows for support as she watched him, feeling a new awakened feeling as the night stretched.

Draco did not speak to her for nearly an hour, as he searched though endless stacks of papers, clearly intent on find something tonight. Lena told herself that she was waiting for him to be done with whatever he was doing before she could talk to him about what was on her mind. But in truth, she found herself thinking about whether or not the questions she had should be asked at all.

By the time Draco stood from the desk and came to the bed, Lena had decided against ruining what the two of them were sharing. Even if it was meaningless to him, and all she was to him was just a piece of ass to sleep with, than she would take it. Even if it broke her heart, it was worth it to be with him, even if just for a short while.

Clearly exhausted, Draco removed his robe and stripped down to his boxers, and pulled the blankets down as Lena lifted herself gently from the bed, sliding underneath them, and him beside her. Her heart raced as he pulled himself next to her, and he pulled her yet even closer to him, wrapping his arm around her.

"Why did you not tell me you were alive?" Lena whispered, unable to cease her curiosity.

She felt him stiffen uncomfortably behind her, and she tried to readjust next to him, but had the feeling that she had already ruined her chances of staying with him for the night.

"I'm sorry," he whispered lightly back, repositioning himself around her, "I did send you a birthday gift, though I couldn't tell you it was from me."

 _Why?_ She wanted to ask, but she demanded herself not to. _Why all the lies? Why all the secrets? Why?_

Her heart sunk as she thought of the Dark Lord's words over the summer. She pushed all of the thoughts from her mind, and enjoyed Draco's touch against her. Her heart finally fluttered in enjoyment and the two of them fell into a deep sleep.


	16. Daydreams

[Chapter Sixteen] Daydreams

The brunette's feet sank in the deep snow as she walked towards Hogsmeade, eager to find the evidence she needed. This is what she has been waiting for. All she need to do was expose the two traitors and she would be revered above all others-

The girl gasped as she saw them, jumping behind a lone tree, knowing that she was screwed. There was no where else to hide. Only one lone tree near a highly used path. The girl was panicing.

 _I cant be exposed right now. I'm so close. There has to be some way._

The brunette's target walked along the path, but they did not walk together as she had thought at first glance. They walked nearly 10 yards apart, the blonde in front of a boy.

The brunette scoffed as they drew nearer, and knowing her cover would be blown if she did not hide, she found herself pushing her expensive brown leather boots beneath the surface of the snow, and twirled heat from her wand to melt a path for the rest of her body, and the rest of her $1500 suit that was about to be completely ruined by mud and water.

But she would be safe.

* * *

A long while later, the brunette rose from the snow, shocking a few students heading towards Hogsmeade. The brunette ignored them, and rushed to her destination. She knew where they planned to meet, and she would not let this ruin the information she was to get.

The girl rushed toward the small apothecary that had a small underground passage to the Hog's Head. Now all she had to pray for was that they two of them would sit near a floor drain.

Nearly an hour later, the target entered the shop. Her high pitched voice was hard to ignore, and carried easily into the floor.

The brunette listened as they say at a nearby table. If they whispered, she would be unable to hear.

"I would never let anything happen to you. Everything I did was to protect you."

The brunette held back a gasp. _It can't be._ After a moment of thought, the brunette realised that though this was not exactly what she was looking for, it would be useful in her final report, if she failed to get everything else she needed.

* * *

Lena walked towards Hogsmeade, anxious to get to her location. Regulus needed to test the locket, though Lena was hardly eager to take the locket from its hiding place to take it outside where anybody could snatch it from her.

Lena entered the Hogs Head and found Regulus beneath a hooded cloak in the back.

She nodded to him and pushed the locket into his pocket. The man left with a nod and Lena had a butterbeer before she left the tavern.

With all danger now away from her, her anxiousness to meet with Draco returned.

He wanted to spend time with her. He missed her. Lena's heart welled unbearably as she confirmed this as not a joke when she saw Draco standing in the Shrieking Shack.

She rushed inside and as he turned to see her, he pushed her against the wall, frantically kissing her as they made their way up the stairs, and into a bedroom. Draco waved his wand and the once dust bed became clean. Their mouths met with a burning passion and Lena pulled Draco's robe apart, the bottoms snapping off in every odd direction. He removed her robe by pulling it over her head, and pushed her roughly toward the bed, stripping his own shirt off. Lena collapsed as he prowled on top of her, his hand stroking her cheek and moving her hair behind her ear.

His lips met her ear and made a trail down her chin to her mouth. Draco pulled off her remaining clothing and bit down on her neck roughly, Lena gasped and pulled his body against hers.

"This is wrong," she repeated, but her mouth moved over his body furiously and the words were between kisses.

Draco's hand lingered at her waist, watching her eyes. "Doesn't feel wrong to me." His voice was low with lust. He moved his lips to Lena's neck and began to suck gently. His hand slid lower on her waist and Lena gasped. It had been so long since she had been touched this way.

Soaring into pleasure, Lena continued to gasp until his hand touched against her and rubbed gently. His fingers circled enticingly, and as they entered her, she gasped loudly.

"Shhh," said Draco, but he was smirking.

Reaching for his boxers, and grasping him gently, he removed his fingers and met her lips in a kiss. As his tongue slid in, so did he. Out of the corner of her mouth, "Draco!"

He thrust into her slowly at first, gaining momentum. "You are mine, Lena Yavari."

"I love you, Draco," she said as her world shattered into ecstasy and she bit down on his lip savagely.

* * *

Lena's vision seemed to be stunned by a sunny haze as she left the Shrieking Shack, though the sky was ominous and had been for several days.

She made her way to the Hog's Head, praying that Regulus' plan had worked, and that he would not be returning the locket. He had said it would only take an hour, and she had given him nearly that.

As she entered the Hog's Head she sat at the table and voiced loudly for another beer, this one with no sweetstuff. As she called out the door opened and allowed a swift draft to enter the tavern once more.

Draco. He approached her quickly and sat at the table across from her.

"I know you must have a lot of questions, Lena..." He began.

"You think?" She spat sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I don't care if all we have is sex, at least we have something that way."

Draco's face winced as though her comment had hurt him physically.

"I love you, Lena. And I will always love you. You have to trust me, I don't want to get you involved."

Lena stood up, and as she did so, a hooded man bumped roughly into her. She felt the locket as it hit the bottom of her robe pocket. It was as though time slowed down, and she could see the locket as it hit the bottom of the fabric, bounced ever so slightly and dropped once more, this time landing with a heavy burden.

As soon as the locket ceased movement, Lena felt the heavy pressure once more on her chest, and she realized that she had felt any relief for the past hour until the burden was returned.

Draco jumped up to punch the man, but he was already gone. Regulus was skilled in stealthy arts at this point in his hiding.

"Why all the lies?" Lena found herself asking, turning to Draco once more, meeting his stone cold, dead eyes once more. So much different from the lively sparkles the year before.

"I would never let anything happen to you. Everything I did was to protect you." Draco leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. He gave her one last glance that made the guilt well up inside her as he left the Hog's Head.

* * *

"Wynnie." The name was spoken almost silently, but the small pop assured Lena that it had worked.

"Yes, Miss Yavari?" The elf squeaked.

"Would you bring me all of the presents from my birthday that have no labels?"

The elf nodded and quietly disappeared.

Nearly half an hour later, the elf returned. "I'm sorry, miss, the presents are all missing. I've looked every where for them, and I cannot find them anywhere."

Lena frowned, and the elf flinched. "Keep looking. Find them. I have reason to believe there's something I should have found this summer in them."

The elf disappeared with another faint pop and Lena leaned against the pillows on her four posted bed.

* * *

The brunette searched furiously though the room.

 _I've searched through everything except that trunk._

The girl flicked her wand angrily toward the trunk several times. The desk and the bed flipped rapidly, but the trunk remained unscathed.

The brunette grunted furiously and flicked her wand once more as she left the room. The bed and the desk pieced themselves back together.


	17. Nightmares

[Chapter Seventeen] Nightmares

 _Today is the day. Today I will finally have some hard evidence, even though I have failed my task, he will forgive me for my failure for discovering this._

The brunette gazed at her target across the room. _Her demise will be my salvation._

* * *

As Lena awoke, she noticed the sunny filter from yesterday had gone, and the ominous sky had seeped deep within her bones with a tremendous chill. As she ran her fingers over the locket in her normal routine, the dark became Stygian. _As though I am being warned of something dreadful to come._

As the thought entered her mind, she was unable to force it out, as though it were not her own.

 _Something dreadful to come._

Lena got dressed and did her best to prepare for the worst, and when she finally exited the room, she held the locket in a small pouch, wrapping securely around her neck and beneath her clothes. She must keep her secret safe.

 _Nobody can ever know._

As the girl walked out into the bleak midwinter day, she looked out toward the lake for him. She knew he would already be waiting, she was nearly ten minutes late. But she knew leaving the locket was not an option.

As she headed toward the frozen mass, she wondered how the time had passed so quickly. How was it already December, and the winter gala for sixth and seventh years was being held right before Christmas break?

Draco stood behind the shadow of a huge tree, and Lena hardly saw him until she was upon the lake. She headed toward him smoothly, her white cashmere sweater allowing the chilly wind to find the tiny holes.

She approached Draco and gave him a small kiss on the lips. He shied away and Lena found her fingers gingerly touching the locket in the pouch, at her chest, though the soft cashmere.

"What is it?" She whispered. He had said it was something important, that he didn't want anybody but her know about.

He looked at her breifly, and his eyes shot away quickly as they met hers.

"Draco, tell me," she pleaded, praying it wasn't something terrible. Something that deemed that thought in her head true.

"You asked me why all the lies. And I wanted to tell you then, but I couldn't. Not in front of all those people. You know the sort that hangs out in Hog's Head. You haven't brought anything odd, have you? Any products from stores, or books? Anything you've recently obtained? A gift from somebody or...?"

Lena's thoughts immediately went to the locket, and her fingers gingerly touched it again. Her hand drew away quickly. _How could he know?_

"No, nothing," she responded after a moment. "Why, what's wrong, Draco?"

"The Dark Lord has people watching me. Watching you. His paranoia has grown only worse, and trusts no one." Draco began whispering quietly over the small breeze, frantically almost. "Over the summer, the Dark Lord assigned me a task, just before he had you kill me. He gave me a potion and cast a spell that he claimed would bring me back to life. He told only my father. I doubted that it would work against the killing curse, but it did.

"The Dark Lord sent Lucius to train me, somewhere up in the mountains. When I returned, he told me I was forbidden from seeing you, contacting you, anything, in any way. He said that you were merely a distraction for me, and that anything between us would have to wait until after we win the war. That was in July. I had no intention of going without seeing you before the two of us went to war, Lena. I sent you a gift as secretly as a could, a two-way mirror that would allow us to speak to each other. When I saw you never opened you gift, I knew there was no way I would be able to tell you at Hogwarts without anybody finding out-"

"But you're telling me now," Lena whispered, more loudly than she intended.

"I know, but there isn't much time, the Dark Lord is looking for something that has gone missing. He will not rest until he finds it. Please tell you haven't gone and done anything stupid."

"Of course not." Lena responded quickly. Her lie had almost embedded into her head by now. Her her fingers still reached for the locket. She longed to stroke her fingers against it and have the power within her rise again.

Draco's stressed face showed just a hint of relief at her response.

"I want to be with you more than anything Lena." He stepped forward and stroked her cheek, kissing her gently on the forehead as he looked down on her. "I love you more than anything."

"I love you too, Draco."

He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. "Would you accompany me to the Christmas Gala, Rosalena?"

Lena nodded instantly, unable to control her response as her smiled ardently. Suddenly her thoughts began to stream into a sudden conclusion. "Lena." She paused. "You said that you saw I never opened the gift...That means you would look into the mirror?"  
"Every night for months."

Lena's eyes grew wide. "Draco, my gifts were stolen. I didn't open any of them."

Draco's confused expression quickly understood.

"So, whoever stole them would know everything you've said while you were anywhere near the mirror-"

Draco's expression changed to quick fury, and Lena stepped back. "Everything will be fine, Draco, everything."

 _The locket, I didn't mention the locket aloud at all did I? I never spoke out loud while writing my letters to Regulus over the summer, did I?_ Lena raked her mind frantically, and she knew Draco was doing the same. It was so long ago, she couldn't remember. And though Lena was at a lot less risk than Draco was for the crimes the two of them had committed, and in a lot less danger of getting caught, her punishment for getting caught would certainly be more severe.

There was only one true punishment in the Dark Lord's eyes for a disobedient servant.

Death.

 _Something dreadful to come._

Who had put that thought there?

 _The Dark Lord?_

Of course he could have put the thought there, but she would know if he had been probing through her mind. She had been so careful, everything had been hidden so well. Even in her every day thinking, she never brought up those things. She had to be safe.

 _He couldn't possibly know._

* * *

The night had grown dark as Lena and Draco roamed the grounds together. Keen on forgetting what they had just discovered, and praying for the best. Words between them were lost in desperate kisses.

As the bricks in front of the Slytherin common room began to separate, Lena and Draco's lips remained clasped, blindly heading toward his bedroom. But as the light and the sudden eruption of "Merry Christmas!" exploded, they broke apart.

Lena looked around and the apparent celebrations suddenly turned into whispers of judgment and awkward silence. Her heart began to race as Parkinson approached him.

"Drakie, what are you doing? Don't tell me you're taking out the trash now..."

Lena felt the sudden urge to run. Get out of there before they killed her. But Draco's fingers brushed against her's and pulled her hand between them.

"Shut up, Parkinson." The girl's jaw dropped in shock as Draco looked her directly in the eyes. "In fact, anybody who has a problem with my girlfriend should just go."

Lena swallowed nervously as the awkward silence slowly turned back into a party. Parkinson grabbed Daphne and tried to push several of her younger followers out, but they quickly sideswiped her and stayed and the silenced turned back into conversation and music.

Lena looked up at Draco and gave him a silent thanks. He smiled and kissed her on the lips, dragging her toward the food table.

* * *

The brunette watched silently as her target entered the room and as the party continued after the speech. She was surprised how easy it was for her to remain unseen.


	18. What Was Right Is Wrong

[Chapter Eighteen] What Was Right Is Wrong

In the Yavari household, you couldn't just have a Death Eater meeting. It had to be a celebration of some sort or another.

This time, the meeting was disguised as a pureblood young women and men's gala. Which would allow pureblood witches and wizards to find a suitable partner. Lena was just thankful that she didn't have to come in disguise. Her Dark Mark was nearly exposed, though nobody would likely see it as her arms up to her elbows were covered in silky black tight gloves. She walked down the stairs slowly, behind, none other than Pansy Parkinson. Who wore a sickly green dress than clung to her lumps pathetically. The tips of her hair looped out like a little girls and her makeup made her look sickly.

Lena slowed a few paces so people could admire a woman who truly knew how to dress herself. She held her dress near her hips as she glided down the curved staircase gracefully. The dress she wore was black, and the bodice was trimmed with glamorous silver. The skirt was tight and shimmered against her legs as she moved down the steps, showing off a million diamonds that looked like the stars scattered in the sky. And though not visible, her heels gave her confidence, as they too, were trimmed in silver and diamonds to match.

She found Draco in the crowd as she stepped down from the last step and she was announced. Though she knew that they would not be able to dance to talk to each other this night, she longed for his touch, and found some amount of satisfaction just from looking in his eyes and imagining it.

His eyes seemed to light with fire as she bit her lip and headed in the opposite direction.

She grabbed a glass of wine from a passing server, and swirled it before taking a small sip. She looked to see Draco approaching, with Crabbe and Goyle at his heels.

"What's going on?" Lena asked quietly, only notified by their solemn expressions.

Draco shook his head and gestured for her to follow. A few curious bystanders gazed at them as they broke through a section of the dance floor. Lena replaced the glass of wine after another hasty sip before setting it on an abandoned table.

They were headed out of the ballroom toward her father's office. Her stomach churned and her head felt light, though not from the alcohol.

Through the library, they entered a small sitting room, were two men in masks guarded the door to the office. Draco approached them coolly. Lena saw how confident he had become in his actions, but nothing as cool as this. As though nothing was wrong. As if the two of them weren't exposed. Of course, Draco had some secrets he had not exposed, just as much as Lena had keep from him. For example, he had mentioned nothing of his task, though Lena knew it must be something absolutely brilliant just from its secrecy.

He spoke to the two men for a moment and they opened the door, allowing Draco inside, he glanced back for just a second, and Lena recognized the slight trace of terror that hung in the clouds of his gray eyes, and the guards were closing the doors before anybody else could enter.

Lena waited anxiously near a bookshelf as Crabbe and Goyle lazily sat on one of the couches. Her fingers brushed the titles, but her eyes were focused on the things in her mind. _Nothing dreadful will come, Draco will be fine._

After nearly ten minutes the doors opened and Draco emerged. As the doors remained open for a moment, a voice cooed out, and the name lingered on the air.

"Yavari."

Lena immediately headed inside the doors, and the snapped shut behind her before she could look back at Draco, or run away from this. Everything is fine, I will not be discovered. She didn't allow the thought to cross through her mind.

She looked up at him. The Dark Lord. He towered above her, and the only light in the office was dim candlelight. The curtains were drawn, though the moonlight clung to the edges of the velvet curtains.

Her eyes dropped to the floor beneath his feet, and her knees plumeted to the ground. She felt his gaze piercing the back of her neck, she felt the probe in her mind. Searching every crevise. She didn't allow the fear to control her. She breathed calmly as he examined her mind. Pushing thoughts aside sharply, giving Lena a headache, but the Dark Lord continued his desperate search.

She relived her earliest childhood memories, her most embarrassing moments, her proudest moments, as the Dark Lord viewed them.

"Yavari, How are you feeling since last year?" The probing ceased immediately.

"Very well, my Lord." Her eyes met his for just a moment.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Yavari?"

"No, my Lord. Nothing important, at least."

"Good. You may go for now."

Lena nodded and left the room. As she exited, a chilly breeze hit her as well as the Dark Lord's voice. "Goyle."

Goyle stood up and headed in, a clear fear clung to his face. He had not yet completed his training, had had not the inured aptitude that Lena and Draco now possessed. But he would soon.

Yavari, he had called her. Not Lena, as he once had. He had called her Lena when he cared about her, now he only saw her as a follower, but she recognized that it meant something else. The trust was gone. The Dark Lord had always called Lucius by his first name. His most beloved follower. Lena sat across from Draco and Crabbe at the couch and when Goyle came out, Crabbe went in. Another long few minutes passed until finally, the Dark Lord called them all in, and the rest of the Death Eaters appeared, clad in their masks.

Finally, the Death Eaters were in full circle around the four teenagers and the Dark Lord standing in front of them, Lucius just behind him and to the left.

"I am sending the four of you out to recruit some of our old friends. Hopefully some of you have experience with diplomacy. You will recruit from the Veela, the Rebel Trolls. If you find any one that is interested in earning back their freedom, let them know the date of our next meeting, and the location. Fristone Fields just outside of Villeporta, on March 13th."

"My Lord, we cannot send children for this task." It was Lucius, and he was the only one who would dare speak so to the Dark Lord. Lena saw as her parents nodded in agreement.

"I would not send any of my followers into certain death. They will be fine, if it is meant for it to be so."

Lucius nodded and silenced himself, but Lena could almost see his scowl beneath his mask.

"Godspeed," The Dark Lord said, and every disappeared in a poof of black smoke.

* * *

"Do you oafs even know where we're going?" Lena whined after Goyle, Crabbe, and Draco took yet another right turn. The rebel trolls had been easy to persuade, Lena had the feeling that they had saved the harder mission for last.

The three halted and looked back at her. Draco waved his arm for everyone to continue without speaking. As Goyle and Crabbe took the lead, and Draco waited for Lena, he rose his fingertip to his lips, shushing her. Lena rolled her eyes, but continued following Crabbe and Goyle. Finally, Draco pointed.

Lena looked through the jagged rocks that surrounded her into the cloudy black horizon. She saw nothing. She looked back at Draco and back to where he had pointed. A cloud slowly dispersed and the view was cleared.

A tower! The shingles on the circular tower were a faded blue, and the stones looked almost bronze. A single circular window was in sight. Lena rushed after Draco, who had started down a particularly treacherous cliff side. He was waiting for her, as she looked over the edge, Crabbe and Goyle were making their way down, though miraculously had not fallen yet.

Lena took Draco's outstretched hand and nimbly treaded the loose rocks. Draco held her steady and she forced herself to look at the semi-vertical rocks instead of down in the deep crevasse.

It seemed like nearly a hour later before Lena reached the bottom, and Crabbe and Goyle were waiting behind a rather large boulder. Thankful to be on solid ground, Lena gently kissed Draco's cheek. He pulled her over to Crabbe; who began gesturing wildly.

The four crouched, just out of sight of anyone who was walking on the path. After a rather slow wagon, with a threshal pulling the hold, Draco and Lena led the way as Crabbe and Goyle followed with less nimble steps.

Lena suddenly wished that she had been responsible for holding the map, instead of Draco. Though each of them carried a small backpack of food and water, Draco was the only one given the map, and almost as though he wanted to torment Lena, he wouldn't let her look at it, only mentioning that, "Women are rubbish at reading maps." Crabbe and Goyle had chuckled and Lena had blushed, not mentioning the map again.

Finally the door was in sight, a monstrous wooden barricade. Lena pulled out an invisibility cloak and saw Draco doing the same. Unfortunately, they had only brought two. Draco turned to them. "You two stay out here. You goons would only expose us," he whispered.

They nodded and found a hiding place among the rocks. Draco nodded to Lena and she donned her invisibility cloak. They headed toward the door, and waited close by as another trader emerged on the road.

The gates opened without question, and Lena and Draco crept in.

Nearly losing sight of the quick flicker of Draco's cloak, she keep a keener eye and followed him down a stone staircase just past the front gate.

They entered the dungeons and Lena realized that they had many prisoners.

Draco took his cloak off in front of the first cage, and cooed to the occupant, who had hidden in the shadows. "Hey!"

The creature came forward. Lena blushed and began to stammer. "Hello," she whispered subductively to him. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Draco slapped Lena and her eyes met his.

"Keep your task in mind, Lena, and begin to question the females."

Lena did as she was told and avoided the attractive men. Veelos.

She and Draco freed all of them and made their way back up the staircase. It took them nearly four trips to get each of the Veelos and Veelas out, but finally, a large pack hid near Crabbe and Goyle in the rocks.

Suddenly a horn was sounded in alarm. A language Lena did not recognize echoed through the mountains.

 _No! There's still some inside!_ Lena began to panic and her eyes frantically found Draco's. He simply shook his head, and Lena almost caught a glimpse of sadness in his eyes, but they became solemn again and he commanded the group to make their way away from the castle.

The horn sounded again and the gates opened. The group scattered out of Draco's organized line. Only a few of the creatures remained hidden. A rain of black arrows crashed against the rocks, unseen now that the ominous gray skies had turned black.

Lena's wand was out in a second and she saved the five creatures that were in her stead, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle lead each of their own, and made their way further from the castle, hardly able to cast the spells to protect each of the creatures and run at the same time.

A straggler behind Lena tripped, another rain of arrows and Lena didn't look back , cooing the others in front of her. Finally the arrows ceased, and they counted their remaining numbers.

Thirteen. That's all they had saved. Draco's eyes frantically looked around, as if expecting the others to jump out and surprise him. Dismayed, he gestured the others and they walked for a long time until they ended up on a beach hidden by an overhanging cliff.

They set up camp without words and Lena allowed Crabbe and Goyle to accommodate the saved prisoners while Lena made her way into the Captain's tent. Draco had his hand against the hard walls, which billowed diligently from the outside, but no drafts came through.

"There's no way we could have saved them all. It was a manner of luck," Lena began, but Draco interrupted, the tent door billowed from the wind outside sparatically.

"We need to save as many as we can, Lena. Do you realize the consequences of what will happen if the Dark Lord loses this war?" He paused, but left no time to answers. "We need every single man we can get for this war. Dumbledore outnumbers us almost three to one."

Lena saw the panic in Draco's eyes. She searched for anything to calm him. Even a lie. Her fingers grazed against the hidden locket, when she touched it, she felt complete.

"We won't lose this war, Draco."

* * *

 _These goons have been going in circles for hours. Do they know I am following them?_

The brunette looked back and wiped her steps clean once more. She knew it was impossible. They couldn't know. She had been too careful.

She hid behind some rocks as she watched them enter the castle, escorting out the prisoners. According to them, everything is going perfectly.

The brunette's eyes followed Lena as she appeared for the last time, with yet another prisoner. The alarm sounded and the group scattered in panic.

 _Luckily, I only need to follow one._ She smirked and watched carefully.

Her silent steps no longer need to be covered as she crept slowly after them. They made camp, and the brunette took the potion in her pocket.

As she disappeared, she moved toward the largest tent, where her target had just entered. She waited for a while, unable to hear the resounding voices inside. She withdrew her wand and cast a tornado of wind. She lept inside quickly, and to the corner.

"...three to one," Malfoy said.

The target touched her chest. The brunette smiled, unseen. _So, that is why it wasn't in your trunk. Nearly two months in vain spent trying to break the locking mechanism, and now you've brought it to me._


	19. Know Thy Enemy

[Chapter Nineteen] Know Thy Enemy

A blistering heat came from the fireplace and the room was nearly ninety degrees, but that was not what woke Lena. A rapping on the door sounded again and Lena jumped from bed and opened the door. Parkinson entered the room before Lena could protest and slammed the door shut, whispering silencing spells.

As Parkinson began to spit ice from the tip of her wand, the room cooled and the fire went out with splatters of sparks.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lena demanded, looking around the room, but the other two occupants were missing.

"Lena, you have to listen to me. I know you don't trust me, but if your faith remains in the Dark Lord, you will listen." Lena didn't respond, and gave Parkinson the most bored look she could muster. "Somebody is planning to weaken the Dark Lord, this year, by sabotaging your reputation, and giving the Dark Lord reason to kill you."

"Who?" Lena asked carefully, scanning Parkinson's face for lies.

"Somebody that works internally for the Ministry of Magic, I think. Trying to find a way into the Dark Lord's inner circle, unless they already have. They aim to expose some minor exploits by his followers, and then gain their entrance at the Dark Lord's side."

"Who?" Lena repeated.

"I think it's Astoria, working undercover for the ministry."

Lena scoffed. "What is wrong with you, Parkinson?" Lena stalled as she went through each of the event this year. The clock in the second year bathroom was ten minutes wrong. All of the clocks in Hogwarts were run by magic, always correct, unless corrupted by powerful magic.

Somebody had thrown a Christmas party long before Christmas.

Somebody opened the jewelry box.

"You may be right about it being somebody. But it's not Astoria. She would have been exposed long ago. It'd be much more likely to be you. As you said yourself, you've made your way up in the Wizarding World, much with the Ministries help at announcing your gossip. Or perhaps, it's your sidekick, the person who you could easily force to do your bidding. Daphne."

Parkinson gasped. "It's not Daphne. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"And what about you? What's your defense?"

"I don't have time to be responsible for everything that goes on in your life, Lena. If you don't want to take my word for it, then don't. It's merely been a strong hunch after you returned last night. She left your room nearly immediately after your returned-"

"Were you watching my room?"

Parkinson nodded. "Daphne had a plan to harass you, and well, I couldn't resist. But nonetheless, Astoria left Hogwarts last night, under an invisibility cloak, heading through one of the secret passages to Hogsmeade. I couldn't follow her further without her catching me, after she went behind the statue."

Lena remained silent.

"Lena, you have to believe me."


	20. Down the Rabbit Hole

[Chapter Twenty] Down the Rabbit Hole

Lena rushed out of the front doors of Hogwarts, uncaring to how much noise she made beneath her invisibility cloak. Regulus took nearly twenty minutes to contact, but agreed to meet her.

She could risk this no further. The lack of information from Regulus himself was speculation enough, but Lena knew what she guarded for him. What he had stolen. A horocrux, from the Dark Lord himself. She couldn't allow him to destroy it. Unless the Dark Lord won the war, everyone would be killed along with it.

She waited deep within an underground tunnel for a long time before she heard the footsteps. She still had her cloak on, preparing for any other lurkers. Anyone intelligent could have followed her before, but now she was being careful, using spells to create false tracks.

"Lena."

It was Regulus.

The girl removed the cloak and rushed forward.

"Please, tell me, Regulus, that you do not plan to destroy this Horocrux."

The man looked around skeptically, as though somebody was watching them. "You know."

"You tricked me." The girl glared.

"Give me the locket, Yavari."

"You know I can't do that. You have found how to destroy it. And if I give it to you, you plan to kill me as well."

"No, of course not, I need you to help me destroy it. And, yes, you will be killed, but you will come back to life, I know your secret, Lena. What you wear around your neck. It's very similar to this one, is it not-"

"Enough, Regulus. I am not giving you the locket-"

"I was afraid you'd say that."

Her world went black.

* * *

When Lena awoke, her own locket still pressed against her chest. She ran her fingers across it. It almost felt soothing, but her fear clouded the feeling of wholeness. She ripped the leather strap from her neck and drew the locket from inside the pouch.

The girl's face sunk. The Dark Lord's horocrux was heavy in her hand. It felt devoid of its power, and she knew what she had done. A mistake she would die for.


	21. As I Lay Dying

[Chapter Twenty-one] As I Lay Dying

"Rosalena Yavari, you have been charged with high treason against the Dark Lord. How do you plead?"

The girl shook her head. "I didn't know, I swear to you, I didn't know, please, my Lord, don't do this."

The Dark Lord stared at her from far away, and Lucius repeated his question.

"Not guilty," Lena muttered.

"Who did you act with?"

"Nobody," She cried. How many times had she answered these questions?

Lucius smiled. "I don't believe you." The man shoved her back into the cell. "Draco."

Lena recognized Draco's form as he approached, her head dropped shamefully. What he must be thinking of her.

"What does this girl mean to you?"

There was a slight pause, "Nothing."

Lena whimpered and fought against the heavy chains that bound her. She let her anger explode, and the bricks began to shatter from the walls.

Lucius shut the gate. "A shame."

Lena screamed out as the door latched shut, loud enough for the large circle of people nearby to hear. "Please, I didn't know!"

"Didn't you, though?" Astoria's voice crept through the bars.

 _Astoria! The Dark Lord doesn't know! Parkinson was right, she's a double agent!_

"Her! She works for the Ministry! Astoria is the traitor!"


	22. Head Under Water

[Chapter Twenty-two] Head Under Water

How long had passed in that cell, Lena did not know. But finally, as the hunger pains began to get the worst of her, the door opened.

The girl wimpered as she saw the long, straight blonde hair. Lucius.

"Hope you're ready to prove your innocence," Lucius muttered sarcastically. "Crucio!"

Lena screamed and the chains that held her in place rattled against her shrieking insides.

The chains release and Lucius grabbed Lena's neck, picking her up to her feet. He dragged her out of the room and up the stairs with no regard for her. The long time in the chair had sapped all of Lena's energy, and the tops of her feet began to bleed against the rough stone.

As they exited Lena's very own home, leaving a trail of blood, and the two exited into the dark night, past the wards, and finally Lucius stopped. He held her neck tightly and suddenly she was sucked into a tunnel.

They stood in front of a small cave, while the raging tempest crashed large waves against the cliffs.

They entered the cave and Lucius snatched Lena's wrist, using the jagged wall rocks to slice open an offering. They entered the new opening and he continued to drag Lena until they reached the boat.

He pushed her inside and the two zoomed across the slimy lake. At the other end, Lucius forced Lena to take drink, after drink of the clear liquid. She was so thirsty, she just wanted some water. Why was she so thirsty? Hallucinations seared through her mind.

She scrambled toward the slimy lake water that was only yards away, but she could not overpower Lucius' grip as he forced down more. He took her locket from his pocket as she gulped down the last of it. He placed the locket in the center and it refilled with the swish of his wand. Did he not realize the Horocrux was a fake? That Regulus had destroyed it?

Still in delirium, Lucius dragged Lena back in the boat, and before she knew it, they were back at the manor, and Lucius was demanding that she stand, his grip loosening on her neck.


	23. Breathing Fire

[Chapter Twenty-three] Breathing Fire

The Dark Lord entered the stairs. Lena's mouth had been struffed with a dirty rag hours ago. She tried to speak through it, but her words were muffled past the point of understanding, and she gave in.

 _This is it._

"I am disappointed, that it was you, working for the Ministry. Here I thought it was something small, like knowing the location of Regulus Black." The Dark Lord exhaled loudly. "I'm so sad that this ended this way. Less than a year ago, I was expecting you to take my side at the throne, and now..."

Lena's head dropped, unable to defend herself.

"It would be hardly noble to just kill you, and give you no chance...I challenge you to a wizard's duel."

Lena's eyes shot up in a moment of thanks. Her bonds were released, and the Dark Lord grabbed her wrist, appearating to ground level, outside of her manor. Her parents must have lowered the wards.

Lena and the Dark Lord stood in the center of the Inner Circle. Lena glanced around carefully, but she couldn't identify anybody in the dim lighting. She knew her parents and Draco both watched.

The dirty rag on her mouth suddenly burned away at a flick of the Dark Lords wand. The Dark Lord began to bow, and Lena followed suit, preparing herself for something she should have been expecting all year. Why had it not been more obvious?

Her wand rose to her face, as did the Dark Lord's.

"Good luck," he laughed, as though her chances were dismal.

It was true, she was weakened by lack of food and sleep, and torture. But she would be able to speak before she was killed.

"Know thy enemy," Lena whispered, spinning around.

"What?" she heard the Dark Lord say, but she was walking away from him. Her head counted and when it hit three, she spun around.

"Perificus Totalus!"

The Dark Lord froze.

Lena stepped forward, lowering her wand. "I am not guilty. Astoria Greengrass is guilty; I can prove it."

Her mind muttered the counter curse, praying that what she had said would be enough. The Dark Lord looked at her.

"I just may give you another chance for this display of loyalty..." The Dark Lord looked around the circle. "What do you guys think?"

Nobody answered. Time slowed down.

The Dark Lord rose his wand.

Somebody began to step toward the Dark Lord, their arm outstretching. Draco Malfoy's short blonde hair came into view.

Lena watched him as the Dark Lord spewed venom from his lips. A flash of green light.

Lena looked back to the Dark Lord; her eyes met his as everything went black.

* * *

"NO!" Draco screamed and somehow managed to catch Lena's body as her knees bent and she fell slowly toward the frozen ground. The Inner Circle began to disvaperate as the Dark Lord waved his hand in a gesture. "No!" Draco cried out again, his voice cracking in horror. He looked to the Dark Lord. He was alone with him. "How could you? You promised me that we could be together! I did everything you said!"

The Dark Lord didn't speak for a long time, as Draco shot daggers with his eyes, waiting for a justifiable response. "A traitor is still a traitor." Then the Dark Lord was gone. There was no sound, no smoke. He just disappeared out of thin air.

Draco turned back to Lena. Her eyes were still open. He clutched her head against his chest tightly as he let the tears fall.

"No, Lena, you can't be dead. We promised we'd be together forever." He couldn't breathe. His words faded into the empty cold air. "Lena..."


	24. Heart of Darkness

[Chapter Twenty-four] Heart of Darkness

Astoria stood in the dark cave before the lake. The water was cloudy and green.

 _Nobody will think to check for me here._

The girl groaned. She hadn't expected there to be a moment for her to talk. She just needed time to work this out. There was some way to lie her way out of this. She needed to be in the Inner Circle. And tonight had been her only chance. None of the other followers would been so easy to incriminate.

The girl brought her hand to her face. Suddenly the entire cave lit up. The source of the light was impossible to see, blinding Astoria in a fit of radiant light. The girl appearated outside of the door, and she was in blackness again. _What the hell was that?_ As an answer, she heard the voices of two men.

* * *

"Lena..."

Her head was pressed against something hard, and her body was rocking. A tear fell on her cheek and she sprang up from his arms.

"LENA!"

Lena looked at him carefully. He was absurdly gorgeous. She felt like she had met him before, but she couldn't place where.

"I'm sorry...do I know you?"

A heavy necklace weighed down on her neck and as she looked at it, she saw it was a locket. Ignoring the boy who held her for a moment, she opened it carefully, and saw that it was empty. _Lena? Am I Lena?_

"I won't let him find you, Lena. I'll protect you; whatever I have to do." The boy wasn't speaking to her, he was talking to himself.

* * *

 _Lena made a Horocrux..._ Draco Malfoy thought as he searched endlessly for that filthy blood traitor. It had only been a week since Lena's death and rebirth. _Maybe I should go back to check on her..._ It seemed as though the locket had preserved the childlike innocence and naivety of Lena.

 _It's better that she doesn't remember. Nobody but me truly cares about her._ Her own parents, the Dark Lord, all of the Inner Circle, her distant relatives had disowned her the moment the Dark Lord accused her of the crime.

Of course, she had committed something atrocious in the Dark Lord's eyes. She would have known from the beginning that it was death to hold that locket for Regulus.

 _Maybe I'll look for him when I'm done with Astoria Greengrass._

As the night crept on, Draco appearated back to the cabin in the woods. When he entered, he panicked, not seeing Lena. But as he calmed, he saw her asleep in the bed. He had been sleeping on the worn down couch in the small living area, being that Lena didn't remember him.

One day her memories will come back, he had assured himself, many times. And even if she didn't, he was wholeheartedly willing to start anew with her.

Hovering over the bed, he stroked the girl's hair behind her ear, feeling her smooth skin. Silently, he made a promise; _I will get the revenge on everyone who has done this to you._ Out loud, he voiced a different promise: "I'll protect you forever, Lena. I'm yours forever, and you're mine."


End file.
